Dear Brother or Dear Devil?
by NJ7009
Summary: After recovering from a mysterious illness after the battle against Azog, Kili attacks the company. Distraught and confused, Fili seeks to find a cure for his brother's condition as well as the person behind it. However, will tension between Fili and Thorin hinder Fili's quest? Who did this to the young prince? Will Kili ever be the same again? Non slash.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello Hobbit fandom :) Welcome to my first story for this fandom and I hope you like it, **

**The first part of this chapter is taken from the Azog fight and a small bit of information is added so people know what's going on. Sorry if that bothers you and you don't really need to read it if you don't want to. I'll put a * next to the bit where it becomes original :)**

**Warning, I have only seen the movies so this will derive away from the books a bit. However, the journey to Erabor isn't the main focus of this story anyways so I hope it won't matter much. I don't own the Hobbit or any of its characters.**

X-X-X

How was this happening?

Kili didn't know if it was just bad luck or if everything in the world was out to get him (probably the latter was true) but he was having - the company was having - a very bad day. First they'd gotten trapped in the Goblin mines and had to escape with a fair amount of struggle and now, here he was, in a tree while his uncle was getting beaten into a pulp by the damnable Azog.

Pride and wrath kept Thorin attempting again and again to at least damage the orc; but he continued to fail. Kili, along with the other members of the company, remained quiet throughout this and didn't move either. There wasn't anything they could do to help the dwarf prince. Wargs stood at the end of the tree having returned after the group had thrown conkers at them, and Kili didn't want to think what would happen should anyone get mauled if they try to approach. Being dangled off a cliff didn't help matters.

"What are we going to do?" Kili asked his elder brother urgently. He hoped his more responsible brother could come up with some form of idea.

Fili glanced down so he looked his brother in the eyes, "I don't know. Waiting is all we can to right now, Kili." The brown-haired drawf wasn't happy with the prospect of waiting and clutched the branch he clung on to tighter in his anger. The youngest dwarf wanted to _do _something.

Azog turned his warg sharply and turned to face his enemy. Thorin stood to face him, his weapon held high in one hand and a log in the other which he used as a shield. Charging forward, Azog lifted his axe and brought it down on the dwarf. The leader of the company fell to the ground with a thud. Balin screamed in horror and only moments later was Thorin's body trapped between the teeth of the white warg which Azog rode.

Kili couldn't watch as his uncle was chewed on by the warg. Dwalin made a movement to try to help his friend and leader but his branch cracked and he was forced to stop. Thorin's pained cries rattled in everyone's ears and Kili found himself turning his face away from it all. Fili cringed at what was going on and he too found himself avoiding to make eye contact with his injured uncle. Dori and Ori were still dangling from Gandalf's staff.

Suddenly, Azog threw Thorin away and he landed painfully on a rock. The orc ordered something to his comrade and he got off his warg and with his sword drawn, made his way towards Thorin. He placed the sword by the dwarf leader's throat once he reached him. Thorin pounded the earth, trying desperately to get his fingers on his sword, but he couldn't reach it. The orc lifted the sword he'd previously held at Thorin's throat and was about to swing it down when there was a thud. Kili, Fili and everyone else who had looked away up until that point glanced up at the sound.

Bilbo was fighting against the orc who'd tried to kill Thorin and was winning exceptionally. After multiple stabs the orc fell still. Bilbo got up and went to Thorin's side and swung his sword at whatever came close. The wargs which had previously surrounded the exit to the tree went towards the commotion. That was a very stupid mistake that they'd made.

*** **The dwarves took their chance and rushed forward off the tree and attacked every orc that came into sight. Kili killed two riders and their wargs before he stabbed a third warg in the chest, causing its rider to fall off. Kili proceeded to stab him as well. After making sure that the rider was dead, he returned his attention back to the warg on the ground who was still breathing. The warg narrowed its eyes on the dwarf's approach and tried to snap at him but Kili was careful in avoiding the creature's mouth. Raising his sword, he was about to plunge it down when he heard something approach from behind.

Kili barely managed to avoid the orc as it passed and the momentary distraction allowed the dying warg to clamp its teeth around Kili's leg. The young dwarf cringed in pain and quickly slashed at the warg in an attempt to free himself. It worked. The warg's grasp on his leg weakened as he died and Kili freed his leg.

Continuing on, Kili attacked two more riders and one warg, getting a few more injuries from the wargs as their teeth managed to nip him on occasion and he got a rather large injury to his shoulder from an orc rider. It was around the point when he received that injury that the Great Eagles arrived. They scooped up the unconscious Thorin and chased off the orcs before picking up the remainder of the dwarves, Gandalf and Bilbo.

X-X-X

_Four days later_

Fili was staring at him and he didn't like it. Pure shock and astonishment was so clear in his brothers face that it would have been funny if it was directed at anyone besides him. His brother's staring made him irritated and uncomfortable. "What?" Kili asked.

"Are you sure you don't want to go practice archery? It is very unlike you not to do so," a hint of concern crept into his brother's voice.

"Yes, Fili, for the third time. Why are you so surprised?" Kili said, laughing slightly. He didn't know why but he had felt strange recently; ever since the night where he and his fellow dwarves had battled Azog. The brown-haired dwarf didn't join in with the singing (much to the annoyance of his comrades as he did have some solo lines in the songs) and now he'd told his brother something which was really astounding... he didn't want to practice his archery.

"Because it is queer you don't want to practice. You always practice. You are really sure now?" Fili questioned again and Kili felt his grin begin to fall from his face.

"Yes."

"Should I get Thorin; I think you're sick?" Fili asked.

"I'm fine," Kili replied, getting pretty fed up of the conversation. He didn't want to go practice his archery for one day and now that was almost considered a crime. True, he practiced nearly everyday on anything he could find and normally insisted on doing so. However, he just wasn't in the mood for it. Again, Kili didn't know why.

Fili, who had noticed his younger brother's strange behaviour of late, didn't seem entirely convinced. "You've gained weight these last few days," Kili raised a brow at the statement. "You have been eating a lot more than usual. You could even challenge Bombour, you're eating so much. Also, you seem to only enjoy the taste of meat these days. I've seen you cringe at any vegetables that get put on your plate."

Kili didn't really have a reply to that. He too had noticed his massive craving for meat recently and he could only put it down to one thing... "That's because of the elves. I ate enough vegetables there to last me a lifetime and the size of their portions were terrible." It wasn't exactly a lie but Kili was unsure whether it was the truth. Fili accepted this response though and stood up from the floor. The other dwarfs were taking a look around the area so Kili and Fili were the only ones inside the cave which they'd stayed in the night before.

"If there's anything wrong or you want to join me outside feel free to ask," was all Fili said before he exited the cave; leaving Kili on his own.

'It's so quiet,' Kili mused as he sat on the sheets which he used for bed covers a couple of minutes after his brother had exited. 'Maybe I should join Fili; I'm not used to it being so silent and feeling so alone.'

_"I'm here!" _a raspy voice said.

Kili jumped as he heard a voice; grabbing the sword which was on the end of his bed on impulse and quickly turning to face the cave opening. However, there was nothing there. His heart beat wildly in his chest as he dismissed the sound as his nerves.

_"You fool! I'm here! How dare you dismiss me for nothing!" _

A sharp pain stabbed through his head and Kili screamed in pain. The dwarf dropped his sword on the floor with a clang and fell to his knees in agony. What was going on? What was messing with his mind? The pain was unbearable and Kili struggled to think. "Who are you?!... Aghhh!" He screamed aloud, hoping more than anything for the agonising pain to stop and for some information to get revealed to him.

_"You will pay for your foolishness you insignificant little dwarf... with your service."_

Suddenly, the pain stopped and Kili was overcome with relief as he gasped, falling on to his hands and knees. He breathed harshly. What had just happened to him? Who did that voice belong to? Footsteps could be heard outside the cave and Fili poked his head around the cave entrance, concern and freight visible in his face. "Are you okay?" The dwarf asked. Kili's elder was breathing hard, a sign he'd run from where he'd been training. Kili's screaming must have been heard.

Kili was about to nod when suddenly pain overcame again. This time it was much worse as the pain wasn't centred at his mind; it stung everywhere. He felt as if he'd been thrown into a fire with nowhere to run and the only thing he could do was burn to death. Kili screamed in pain again and fell on to his side as he used his hands to clutch at his head where the pain was at its worse. Fili rushed forward and appeared to be very frightened as he began to yell at his brother, but the pain stopped Kili from hearing his words.

_"You shall become my host, dwarf, before I decide what else to do with you."_

The youngest dwarf continued to scream in pain, too much in agony to care about keeping face. He couldn't even reply to the mystery voice which was talking to him. The language of Mordor began to be heard in the dwarf's mind, but Kili didn't care nor could he understand enough to know what was being said. The dwarf knew it was definitely the language of Mordor though.

Kili began to feel weak and his screaming started to become quieter. The pain continued to grow though as he fell weaker and he could only squirm as pain was felt throughout his body. It was around this point that he began to hear his brother, who was now cradling him and trying cluelessly to stop his pain. "Brother, please answer me! THORIN! THORIN!" He yelled, trying everything he could to help him and failing miserably at that.

The pain grew to such a point where the youngest dwarf began to fall out of consciousness because of it. Everything felt weak and painful and the last thing he saw before he fell out of consciousness was his uncle, Thorin, stood at the entrance to the cave.

_"This is going to be fun!"_


	2. Chapter 2

**I'm so glad about the positive feedbacks to the first chapter (3 favs, a review and 11 follows) And I thank you all so much. I hope you enjoy this chapter as it was quite a toughie to write. Criticism is welcomed if supported by reasons :) **

Thorin considered him being so close to the cave at the time of Kili's collapse some twisted form of luck. Originally, the dwarven leader had been heading back to the cave to gather some knives which he'd forgotten to conceal inside his clothing that morning when he'd heard Fili screaming like a child (though, in dwarf terms, he was one; Thorin felt displeased by it regardless.) Under normal circumstances, Thorin would have lectured him because of this had he not heard what Fili was screaming about. _"Brother, please answer me! THORIN! THORIN!" _Kili... Concern and a hint of fear grew inside Thorin as he ran down the path and into the cave where the sound had come from.

What he saw inside was shocking. So shocking, that Thorin completely forgot about face for a split second, allowing a gasp to slip from his mouth.

Kili's head was resting on his brother's lap and his eyes were wide and blank. The youngest dwarf of the company was prone, pale and gasped for breath as he struggled to breathe - something which if Thorin hadn't noticed it, he would have believed his nephew dead. Kili's long brown hair splayed across his brother's lap and the hair closest to his face was sticking to his forehead.

Thorin was good in emergency situations and Fili was sensible so there were no arguments when the dwarf's leader told the young dwarf to, "Get Balin, quickly! If you see Gandalf on your travels send him also but if not, leave it be. Kili is weak. Don't be a fool by staying and get help!"

Though Fili wanted more than anything to remain by his brother's side; especially after what he'd just seen and heard - he was sure his brother's pained voice and shaking form would stain his mind forever - he knew he wouldn't be of any help by staying there. Neither was Thorin for that matter, but Fili knew his youth made him faster than his uncle and it would be a brainless idea to Kili to leave on his own so both Thorin and Fili could look for help.

Fili saw comfort in the thought that if he couldn't stay by his brother's side, he would rather it be Thorin who could. Thorin was his mother's brother who became like a father to Kili and Fili after their mother's demise. He was family. He could be trusted with Kili. Grabbing the sword which he'd thrown down by the cave entrance in his shock, Fili dashed outside.

The dwarf brother couldn't muster the courage to look back at his brother's prone form on exit.

X-X-X

It took Fili some time to find Balin. The dwarven prince in his panic and haste had completely forgotten to even ask where Balin was and in consequence, it took him much too much time to find the dwarf. It was only after three minutes did he find Bilbo and got directions in the right direction by the very confused and worried Hobbit, having noticed the dwarf near meltdown.

"Are you okay, Fili?" The Baggins had asked as he saw the dwarf running towards him, his face tight with panic.

"No t-time... w-where's Balin?" The dwarf prince asked urgently, not caring how his voice changed due to the lump in his throat. Sweat dripped down Fili's face, mostly from stress, and he felt close to crying in frustration. He was relieved to have found a familiar face but he had to move quickly. His brother's life was in his hands.

"Over by the Maple trees over there," Bilbo pointed to the far end of the field. True enough, Fili could make out Balin's white beard in the distance. He could also make out the various shapes of the other dwarves scattered through the mass of trees and Gandalf. "Now, what's going on?" Bilbo asked again. He didn't get a reply though as Fili ran down the field with all the breath he could muster. Bilbo called the dwarf's name, but he was ignored and the Hobbit gained the worst feeling that something was terribly wrong. He ran after the young prince.

With adrenalin acting as Fili's source of energy, he ran over to Balin and almost skidded into him from his burst of speed. "Wow there, laddie! Wouldn't want to crash into each other now would we?" Balin smiled at his younger as Fili slid into a stop before him but the smile was not returned. Fili was beyond exhausted and could barely speak, nor was this the time to smile... his brother... what if he had died in the time that he'd spent lost? Fili would never be able to forgive himself knowing that he could have done something but his own mistake had caused his brother's death.

The dwarf choked out his words but Balin misunderstood. "You and Kili want to go into a cave to make a wicket for Thorin? Laddie, you want to make a gate?" The dwarves and Gandalf had come over to see what was going on but they too couldn't understand a word the dwarf was saying. Fili, overcome with frustration, took a deep breath - a very deep breath - and yelled in a panicked voice. "Something's wrong with Kili, I think he's dying!" Before he breathed again. _'Has my voice always been this shaky?' _He thought.

Balin blinked in surprise, as did the other dwarves, but had no chance to reply before Fili grabbed the elder dwarf's hand and practically dragged him across the field and down the path despite how he felt his legs were about to fall off. The blonde acknowledged it was rude, but being polite wasn't going to help his brother. It wasn't as if the dwarf fought against the young prince's grip anyway. He appeared too shocked by the news to fight even if he wanted to. Not that he did, of course. Balin wanted to help Kili if he could.

Much like Thorin; Balin too was shocked when he saw Kili, prone and half dead, lying on the blankets which served as his bed in the cave. The old man walked over to Thorin's side and immediately placed a reassuring hand on his comrade's shoulder. "I can take it from here."

Thorin didn't argue and stood up to allow the old dwarf space to work. He turned to his petrified and exhausted nephew. "What took you so long?" The leader of the company said, sounding flustered. During the time his nephew had been gone, he'd tried everything he could to revive Kili. However, every attempt failed and the frustration of this made him feel irritated.

Fili gasped for his breath and mumbled, "Forgot... to... ask... directions... lost..." Was all Thorin could make out of what the dwarf said as he breathed heavily. Eventually, the heavy breathing lessened so the dwarf straightened up and watched as Balin examined his brother.

Balin decided to check the dwarf's vitals first before looking into anything in particular. He listened to the dwarf's breathing, noting how shallow it was and he then placed his ear on his companion's chest. The sound of the heart beat was strange. It wasn't elevated nor was it slow; it beat at a very normal rate. Another thing which was odd about whatever had overcome Kili was that the latter's eyes were wide open. Normally, this was a sign the victim was dead but Kili was both breathing and his heart was beating. He was only unconscious.

"Did either of you see Kili before he fell unconscious? What happened?" Balin inquired, feeling at a loss for what was wrong with the dwarfing of age 77.

Thorin turned to face Fili who shuddered. "He... he was screaming a lot... I asked him right before if he wanted to practice his archery but he didn't. I thought something was wrong then, but I never thought this would happen!" Fili took a deep breath to regain his composure. He wasn't a child anymore and refused to allow the two most respectable members of the company (minus Gandalf) to see his tears despite how close they were to falling.

"I was gone for no more than a minute. I barely even got to the end of the path when I heard his screams... I rushed back immediately. He didn't even acknowledge I was there and kept clutching his head. I did everything I could to help him, but he soon passed out due to the pain. Thorin came in after that."

Balin nodded toward the dwarf. "Thanks, Laddie," he smiled before returning to face Kili.

"What do you think is wrong with him, Balin?" Thorin asked after being quiet for some time.

"I can only see one possible reason for Kili's illness. Poison; one unlike I've ever encountered before. The weapon which hit Kili on the shoulder wielded by an orc rider the night we fought Azog could have been covered in poison and had this effect."

Thorin raised a brow at this theory. "I got hit by Azog countless times that day," the dwarven prince cringed slightly at the memory and the dent that was dealt to his pride. "And I'm not like that. Neither is anyone else that got injured that day was it by orc riders or their wargs."

Balin considered what Thorin was saying and Fili added, "Kili has also acted strangely since right after the battle. If it were just a matter of time before this happened, then everyone who got injured that day would all be acting strangely. Why is it only Kili who is like this?... why him?..." Fili's thoughts trailed off and he wondered what his brother had done to deserve such an illness. His brother could be cheeky and mischievous at times, but he would never be and never has been a bad person.

Fili found himself thinking of a memory back when he and Kili were only children...

X-X-X

_"You will never beat me, fair Hero, for I am the Dark Lord! Bow at my feet!" Fili chuckled melodramatically, taking out his sword. _

_"Never! Prepare to face your inevitable doom, for you have harmed the innocent and can never be forgiven!" Kili countered; flicking his long brown hair behind his shoulders and drawing his sword. A wicked grin playing across his face. Fili would never have thought it but the idea of acting out the cliché tales of triumphant heroes from years past was a good idea on his younger brother's part. _

_Fili had been having a bad day with memories of his mother springing into his mind. In an attempt to comfort his brother, the six-year-old Kili suggested sparring... with a twist. And it was this twist which made this game all the funnier. _

_The two brothers of six and eleven leapt at each other and their wooden practice weapons knocked against each other with a clack. "Give up!" Fili laughed as he swiped playfully for his brother who played the hero of this game. _

_"I won't ever give up!" Kili called and there was another clack as Fili allowed himself to get pushed to the floor by his brother. "Die for your sins, Dark Lord!" And Kili pretended to stab down, laughing along with his brother as he did. _

_"Kili?" Fili breathed as his laughing began to subside. "Thanks."_

X-X-X

It was on that one occasion, one of many others, that Fili saw how kind-hearted his brother was. He cared for others and did everything he could to help those who needed comfort. Kili didn't deserve to end up like this.

Fili wasn't sure when the other dwarves entered the cave. For all the dwarf knew, they could have been there from the start; ever since he led Balin in. However, he suddenly became aware of their presence when Bofur laid a hand on his shoulder and said comfortingly, "Don't worry too much, lad. Your brother is a fighter, a Durin, a tough lad. He'll be back swinging his sword and shooting orcs in no time."

Fili could only hope Bofur was right as he stared at his brother's pained and pale face.


	3. Chapter 3

Fili barely moved that day.

As the afternoon became evening and the evening became night; Fili remained sat at his brother's side. Not moving and barely breathing. He didn't eat the food which Bilbo gave him (it didn't look particularly appetising in Bilbo's opinion) and drank only a small sip of water. It was almost as if he was paralysed until his brother awoke.

Balin and Gandalf examined Kili and tried many different treatments for some time, but eventually they gave up. Gandalf proved that Kili hadn't been poisoned by placing a hand on his head and examining his spirit. However, he then said something which was rather disturbing... "I fear that should he awaken; he will be much different," Gandalf had admitted. "A dark spirit looms in Kili's body, a darkness which I'm familiar with but cannot identify."

"What do you mean you can't identify it?!" Thorin asked in frustration and disbelief.

"Just that, Thorin Oakenshield. It seems familiar, yet, it is foreign to me," Gandalf gestured to the brown-haired dwarf for emphasis.

"Well, Kili better heal soon. We need to get heading off to Erebor!" Dwalin added, walking over to join his brother, Balin, who was taking a break from working and was eating the stew in his bowl. Suddenly, Dwalin ducked as an empty wooden bowl flew over his head which slammed and cracked on the wall behind him. The cave fell silent as everyone stared at who threw the bowl. Fili.

Fili glared at the elder dwarf. "Is that all you care about? Reclaiming Erebor?! Is that what _all _you people care about?!" Fili stood up from the floor, staring angrily at the other dwarves. "My brother is half dead; my younger brother! Who cares about Erebor at a time like this when he may die? Kili doesn't deserve death. How would you all feel if it was one of your brothers in his position?" Dori glanced at Ori at the dwarf's words and frowned.

Bifur said something in Dwarvish which Bilbo didn't understand and Fili became even angrier, "So, you care more about Erebor than family?! Erebor is just a building with a massive pile of metal inside. You can get gold and build a building as great as Erebor over time. However, once family is gone, they're gone! You can't get it back. We've all lost family, yet, you still are all greedy! I can't believe this!"

"Now calm down, lad," Bofur soothed, resting a hand on his companion's shoulder. "We aren't saying that family isn't important nor are we saying that your brother isn't, but Erebor is something we've hoped to reclaim for years. It is our home. You know this."

Fili glanced over to Bofur, his anger ebbing away slightly. "I understand, but Erebor isn't worth a single life. Not yours, mine, Kili's or anybody's. Let the orcs spend their lives on it-"

"ORCS WILL NEVER GET EREBOR!"

Fili fell silent. The dwarf prince's last sentence had greatly angered his uncle and everyone braced themselves for a round of anger from their leader the second the words left Fili's mouth. "Those low lives will never claim it. I will die before they do!" Thorin thundered.

However, Fili too was angry and he turned to face his uncle. "Why do you care so much about it? Is it the gold, shame or guilt which keeps sending you back there? The last time you attempted it; my great-grandfather, grandfather and uncle died! Your grandfather, father and brother! If you still want to reclaim it after all that then either you are just greedy or there is something else. What do you want so much?"

Thorin looked like he could have killed his nephew there and then. In fact, he believed he would have if Gandalf didn't slam his staff onto the floor. "Fili and Thorin Oakeshield! Refrain from your childish disputes and be quiet!" The old wizard ordered. An agonising silence followed this once again before Fili glared at his uncle one last time and sat down on the floor; returning to watching his brother, once again.

Thorin stormed out.

X-X-X

Bilbo was slamming his head against a wall in frustration an hour later.

When Thorin had stormed out the cave, Bilbo had followed him and cluelessly ended up going in the wrong direction to the former. Now, he wondered around in the dark, lost, trying to find Thorin or at least the way back to the cave. He wasn't having much luck with either.

The young hobbit sighed in annoyance.

Bilbo was well aware of how he was in a very dangerous situation. Should he get attacked, he would be unable to warn anybody; therefore risking the safety of the other members of the company and he was barely able to protect himself in a fight. Especially against, say, an orc pack. The hobbit would almost certainly die if something were to happen.

The hobbit of Bag End refused to think about the danger as he attempted to retrace his steps, knowing too well how it was impossible. Bilbo was in the middle of a deep wood right behind the maple trees where Fili had alerted everyone of Kili's illness earlier. Here, everything looked the exact same. The trees didn't vary on anything besides height and the burglar was hardly spending his time looking at the canopy of leaves above his head.

At least, he wasn't when he ventured into the wood.

The hobbit wrapped his cloak tightly around his body, the cold nipping at him with its icy teeth. _'Winter will arrive soon,' _Bilbo thought to himself, trying to keep his mind off his despair and desperation. '_How I wish I was back at Bag End - eating cake - at times like these. The amount of times I've gone without elevensies is phenomenal.' _

Bilbo smiled at his memories of Bag End. His childhood memories of playing by the fire with a wooden train, treating the toy like it had been made from diamonds, as his mother sat on the chair in the corner. She would occasionally warn him to get further away from the fire, but normally she would just smile at him as he played. He had felt pain in Bag End too. The news that his mother and father had died was told to him there and the hobbit had found comfort in the surroundings of his home during that horrible time.

It was times like these Bilbo couldn't help feeling a little homesick.

There was a crinkle as someone stepped on autumn leaves behind him and the hobbit jumped out of his skin, accidentally slamming into a tree in the process. Panic zoomed through Baggins like a bolt of lightning and he immediately reached to his side for his sword.

Only there was no sword. He'd left his sword back in the cave.

Bilbo cursed loudly before he ran towards cover; hiding behind a large stone which jutted out of the ground. He knew he would be unable to get away if it was orcs who were there so it was better to take cover.

However, it was no orc which emerged into the clearing.

"Thorin!"

X-X-X

Something extraordinary happened that night. Something which Bilbo barely would have believed should he not have been there. He actually managed to persuade the leader of the company to return back to the cave.

When he'd found Thorin, he was clearly very angry still. The heir to Durin didn't listen to a single thing the hobbit had to say and ignored him like he was ignoring a fly. Bilbo was a very persistent fly though.

Bilbo persuaded, persuaded and persuaded a bit more, not quite realising the stubbornness of dwarves before this particular occasion...

"That mindless child thinks I should just give up Erebor! After all the suffering and sacrifice that has gone into these failed attempts to recover it, he wants me to just let that all go in vain of those lost lives," Thorin spat at one point.

"I doubt Fili really meant to offend you. He is just worried about Kili and feels he should take priority right now; not the quest. Once Kili awakens, everything will be back to normal!" The hobbit assured.

Bilbo's constant persuading paid off over time and he eventually managed to coax the stubborn dwarf into returning to the cave - something which he felt immensely proud about.

The cave was fairly active as Thorin and Bilbo entered back into the cave (luckily, Thorin knew the way back) and the atmosphere very tense. Everybody was in a tight circle with Kili in the centre on the floor and the pair pushed into the crowd of dwarves to see what was going on.

Kili eyes shifted slightly as he slowly began to regain consciousness. His body felt heavy and the young dwarf still appeared in a bit of pain but the fact he was waking up was a sign the pain was significantly less than before. "Kili? Can you hear me?" Fili attempted softly, shaking his brother on the shoulder to keep him conscious.

Kili didn't respond, but his eyes continued to shift. "Kili?"

"Mhhhm..." The dwarf replied drowsily this time.

"Wake up!" Fili ordered, shaking his brother's shoulder again. Eventually, the dwarf's eyes opened and he took in the scene around him.

He was surrounded by the other members of the company who stared down at him with soft smiles. The youngest dwarf, knowing he was the centre of attention, smiled somewhat forcefully back to show he was alright and forced himself to sit up.

Bofur spoke, "About time you woke up, lad. You gave your brother quite a scare." Kili glanced at his brother as this was said and Fili looked at him in concern.

"Are you feeling better?"

"I suppose," Kili offered. Suddenly, a sharp pain sparked in his head and he groaned; clutching his head in pain. This somewhat alarmed the other members of the company, Fili in particular, who remembered this happening before the last time Kili fell unconscious.

Balin kneeled besides the dwarf and extended his hand. "Want me to take a look, laddie?" Kili, with a wince, nodded and allowed the elder dwarf to examine his head for any injury which he may have earlier overlooked. The pain continued to spark as the dwarf examined him though and Kili bit his tongue to contain his cries.

"Do you remember anything before you blacked out?" Balin asked.

"Nnnghhh... n-not much..."

"What can you remember?" Thorin asked in Balin's stead, leaving the dwarf to his work. All earlier tension between nephew and uncle temporarily relieved as Fili allowed Thorin to take a seat beside him.

Kili stared at his uncle almost like he was screaming mentally for help. Fili and Thorin both noticed this, knowing that the pain was starting to get to the dwarf. Fear spread through Fili as he realised there was a chance that his brother could faint on him again.

The brown-haired prince took a deep breath, "I remember being in the cave by myself... then there were voices... then a lot of pain..." Kili drifted off a little before saying firmly, "I don't know anything else."

"Do you know who the voices belonged-"

"I SAID I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ELSE!" Kili yelled suddenly, his expression quickly switching from that of pain to fiery anger. Balin leapt at the sudden raised voice and Thorin leaned away from his nephew. Fili looked ever-so-slightly frightened and the other members of the company, especially Gandalf, looked alarmed.

A moment passed and the anger ebbed away from the Durin's expression. Kili quickly realised what he'd done and looked down in shame. "I'm sorry, Thorin. That was... undelicately put."

Thorin smiled slightly, deciding to dismiss the matter, "It is alright."

"It appears our archer has recovered from the pain," Gandalf theorised, looking extremely wary. The wizard looked almost as if he wanted to run away from the ill dwarf. "Now, let us give him some space to rest."

The dwarves, including Fili and Thorin, did as they were told. However, it was only Thorin who noticed the fear in the wizard's voice and the terror in his eyes as he walked away.

**This chapter rather lacks direction but I just wanted to put the point across that Fili and Thorin have a rather strained relationship in this. **

**I hope you all liked this chapter and please review :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks so much for all the reviews/follows/favs. They mean a lot.**

**This chapter has a T warning so read with caution. **

Nothing in particular happened the next three days. Fili waited on his brother hand and foot like a worried mother and Balin made regular check ups on the dwarf, constantly checking his condition and looking to see what may have been the cause for his recent sickness. This normally involved prodding Kili's very vague memory of earlier events.

The constant questioning appeared to greatly annoy Kili though, and he would occasionally lash out in anger at the older dwarf. "I TOLD YOU I CAN'T REMEMBER ANYTHING!" He would yell, Balin would look surprised at the act and then Kili would calm down and apologise.

"I think it could be possible that the sickness did have an effect on him, as predicted. It could be possible that it has made him much more irritable," Balin told Thorin during one of the three days.

Thorin smiled - a very rarely seen smile at that. "He is but a teenager, Balin. He is still maturing."

Balin snorted, "I'll admit I didn't consider that as a possible reason... Well, with that cleared up, I see very little change in the lad. The incident doesn't seem to have caused any trauma and he's recovering well physically."

The Head of Durin's face became a bit more grim. "Do you have any more idea what could have caused it?"

"I'm afraid not since the lad remembers very little. I would guess it was some sort of drug that the Orcs managed to administer through the wound in Kili's shoulder that caused it. That could explain the voices he heard and how long it took to take effect. Some drugs have those properties.

"Don't worry too much about it, Thorin. Kili is recovering well and we should be able to continue on our journey within the week."

Thorin shook his head. "I'm afraid I must continue to worry, Balin. If our enemy has perfected a drug which could repeat what happened to Kili onto other members of the company, that is a large concern. It could influence the success of our quest."

"There is also the possibility Kili just developed the disease from nothing and it was a one time incident. What is the gain from worrying? A bad thing can only breed, the more attention you give it."

The leader of the company let the matter drop but his worries didn't join it. He couldn't help but worry about his nephew's recent illness. The look of fear on Fili's face when Thorin first saw the unconscious Kili was scarring. He could only imagine what the dwarf must have seen his brother go through.

After the three days of inactivity, the party finally began to make plans to continue their journey. It was decided that in two days, they would finally make their move again towards the LonelyMountain.

"We'll have to go through Mirkwood, it seems," Bofur deducted as he, Bilbo, Dori; Fili, Thorin and Gandalf examined the map to plot their path. "There is no way around it."

"Fantastic," Dori muttered sarcastically. He (like most dwarves) hated the elves and they were known to live in the forests of Mirkwood. He'd also heard their king, Thranduil, lived in those forests whom he hated most of all. "Ori, you better behave in there."

Ori, who was sat next to Nori by the fire, frowned. "What if I get lost? Mirkwood is massive!"

"You die," Thorin replied bluntly. Bilbo looked up at his leader in fear. He didn't know very much about Mirkwood and what he did know came from snippets in conversations. All the hobbit knew was that it was a forest near Gondor.

Thorin continued. "If you get lost in Mirkwood, there is a high chance we'll be unable to find you again. Also, if you fall in the rivers there, you could end up with permanent memory damage which is just as bad. We must all be very careful and stay close."

Fili spoke up wearily, "I'm not sure Kili is well enough to attempt Mirkwood," he said. Voicing his inner concerns. "Like you say, Mirkwood is extremely dangerous and with Kili not fully recovered, I don't know if we should take such a risky part of the journey yet."

"We can't delay this any longer, though," Thorin argued. "We have a time limit or we'll have to wait another few decades to reclaim Erebor-"

Thorin was cut off by a glare from his eldest nephew. "That is the second time you've done that," Fili spat. "'Erebor,' 'We've got to reclaim Erebor,' 'Erebor this and Erebor that.' You must have dreams about Erebor. It is clearly your only concern in this world."

Thorin looked shocked at the outburst and Bofur found himself looking down and cringing. Very few of the other members of the company were listening to the conversation, save those who were also looking at the map, so they continued to eat and chatter.

It wasn't long before everyone was staring in the group's direction though as two cracks sounded out, very loud, which sound echoed across the cave walls like thunder.

Kili stood with his arm raised and palm scrunched into a fist as he punched both Thorin and Fili square in their faces. Fili actually fell over from the surprise and force of it while Thorin staggered to the side. Both looked at the dwarf in shock. "What in Aulë!" Fili yelled in surprise.

Kili widened his eyes in shock. He stared down at his fist, then back at his brother and uncle, then back to his fist. He honestly didn't know why he'd punched them. He'd heard snippets of the argument and then they had started to annoy him a little... but not enough to punch them, of course. It was a bit like reflex. He'd suddenly felt extreme rage and that is when he felt his fist pressing against flesh.

At first, Kili was too stunned to speak and a little gibberish spluttered from his mouth which nobody could really understand but the two dwarves could make out the words, "I'm-so-so-so-sorry-I-didn't-mean-to."

"It's alright," both dwarves said with no small degree of concern.

"But it isn't!" Kili exclaimed, slowing down so he could form his words properly. "I... I didn't... I..." Honestly, the dwarf was frightened. Ever since the battle with Azog, he'd done more and more unexplainable things for unexplainable reasons. In a burst of sudden rage, he would do things that he couldn't comprehend. It was like something was messing with his head.

_'Forgotten me already?'_

Kili fell silent in horror.

_'I see you respect me now, dwarf. That's good. You would be a fool if you didn't. You now know of the things I could so easily do to you. The pain I could cause."_

There was a murmur as he became partly aware of someone, possibly Bilbo, asking if he was alright. He didn't respond though, as he was much too focussed on the voice inside his head.

_'Are you scared, Kili son of Dis'_

Kili couldn't form his words enough to reply which the unknown voice took as a yes. It was true. He was unbelievably scared of the voice in his head. He associated the voice with the extreme pain he'd felt four days ago and since then, the dwarf had done everything he could to forget it. However, this quickly proved impossible for many reasons. One of them being that it was now talking to him again.

_'Well prepare for much more fear. It is time I returned to the world which you so viciously took away from me.'_

"Took away from you?" Kili found himself mumble quietly. His eyes were unseeing now and all he saw was darkness. Cold, and lonely darkness. The brown-haired dwarf felt clueless and was trying his best to prevent a breakdown from fear. He found himself falling to his knees among the blackness.

_'Forgotten me already?'_

"I don't know who you are!" Kili cried, looking up to see if he could find the source of the sound but to no avail. "You refuse to tell me who you are!"

_'I'll give you a clue you brainless dwarf. I'm one of those you've killed.'_

Kili blinked, his mind drawing a blank. He'd killed many and there was no sugar-coating it but that mostly consisted of orcs and wargs. He'd never killed a human, he'd killed one dwarf who had begged for death and though he'd killed a few elves, even those dwindled in number. None of these appeared in any way capable of entering his mind.

_'Still don't know? And I thought I was giving the answer away... Oh well. Regardless of whether you know who I am or not, now is the time for us two to become one."_

Kili shuddered, "What do you mean?" He asked timidly.

_'You are such a forgetful dwarf. It is the time for me to inhabit your body and return to the land of the living - the land of Middle Earth. You falling unconscious and the strange surges of anger you have felt recently was but the start of my takeover. Say goodnight, small one.'_

The pain Kili felt next was indescribable. It felt as if his flesh was being melted off his bones and his bones were breaking all in one moment. He screamed and hit the floor, unable to move or cope with the pain. The dwarf's short-lived life flashed before his eyes.

_'I wonder what colour your friends and family will bleed? I will definitely kill them all off slowly after torturing them a bit for payback for my own death. What fun.'_

"Y-you... c-cant!" Kili found himself chocking as his vocal cords burned inside his throat. He gasped painfully, failing to breathe, and turned onto his back as if trying to ease the pain but this movement only increased the pain he felt.

Kili suddenly felt the pain begin to ebb away and he fell unconscious within seconds. That is when problems really began to arise.

X-X-X

"What is happening, Balin?!" Fili cried hysterically as his brother twitched painfully on the floor, completely unresponsive. Nobody was really sure what was going on. One minute the dwarf had apologised for punching Fili and Thorin, then the next he wasn't talking at all and then he started screaming as if he was set alight.

Balin was looking panicked as he wiped the sweat from his brow. "I don't know what's going on with him, lad! I don't know what I should do!"

"Do something!" Fili ordered; so close to tears that it was a wonder how he could still see what was going on beyond his glassy eyes. This couldn't be happening again... This looked so much worse than the first time, yet, Fili couldn't do anything about it. That realisation cut as well as any sword.

"Oh for goodness sake!" Gandalf hissed as he barged through the crowd of clueless dwarves and with his staff - held it over the dwarf.

"What are you doing, Gandalf?" Bilbo asked. He'd been the one to catch (though he had no idea as to how he managed it) the sick Kili the moment he fell off his feet and began writhing in pain.

"Trying to ease his pain, Mr Baggins. Something is very wrong here."

Gloin muttered, "What was your first clue?"

Eventually, the brown-haired dwarf's writhing began to ease to a stop and his breathing started to relax. It was at this point Balin started to check over the dwarf's vital signs for any inconsistencies. He'd been under too much pressure to do that before. "He's recovering," Balin breathed. Gandalf took away his staff for he knew he couldn't heal the dwarf from his illness.

Thorin glanced from Balin to Gandalf, looking for some answers. "What happened?!"

"I don't know!" Balin replied honestly. "The lad has recovered well up until now. He was just overcome with excruciating pain for no reason, as far as I can tell."

Thorin looked over to Gandalf to see if he had any explanation. Gandalf looked down in shame, something which was never seen from the wizard... ever. This action was very uncharacteristic of him. "I'm afraid, Thorin Oakenshield, that even with all my years of living... I have no explanation for this."

"Brilliant," Dwalin muttered.


	5. Chapter 5

**I have finally decided how I want this story to go! (I changed the plot at least three times since I began writing it) Yay for me :) **

**I hope you like this chapter guys and please review. I'm always happy whenever I receive one. **

Life... it flooded into him like a river. The thing he had so desired was finally returning to him, His new body twitched as life was restored to it. Queer smells filled his dwarven nose and noise rattled his ears. Not that he minded much. He was alive again.

Kili awoke in the heart of the twilight hours. His eyes were wide and bloodshot and his body still hurt a little, but he was awake. Alive. That was all that mattered to him... the only thing that held any meaning to him now was the fact he was alive again. He'd beaten death.

Despite the slight pain, Kili forced his body up and scanned his eyes across the room of sleeping dwarves, looking for someone who was awake. Kili filled with excitement at finally being able to live again. However, he was intent on acting out his promise before celebrating too much at the prospect of living... the promise to the true Kili to kill all his companions. They all needed to die anyway so he could escape.

Fili, who'd been watching his now-manipulated brother, was fast asleep in his chair; his chin pressed against his chest. The blonde dwarf hadn't slept properly for a few days and exhaustion had finally got to him, otherwise he probably would have been awake when Kili awoke.

This made things much easier for the freshly reborn dwarf.

Kili planned to kill the members of the company one by one while they were asleep, but that required them all be asleep first.

He was aware that they put someone on watch at night which rotated every few hours (he knew this as he had been monitoring the dwarves for a few days while the true Kili was in control) and the dwarf guessed that if he was going to get away with the assassinations, he would need to take out the dwarf on duty.

Luckily for him, the dwarf in charge was one of the weakest dwarves in the company. Ori sat with his small sling shot in his hands which he pretended to shoot at imaginary targets.

Slowly getting up from the floor, Kili grabbed the bow, sword and quiver which sat at the bottom of the set of blankets he'd been asleep on and walked towards the cave entrance. It was a large challenge to avoid stepping on any of the dwarves which lay scattered across the cave floor. At one point, Kili accidentally stood on the finger of a dwarf with grey hair braided tightly at the chin. However, the dwarf simply stopped snoring and turned on his side.

The brown-haired dwarf reached the other side of the cave without any more mistakes (he was almost punching himself for the one he made) and pressed his body against the cave wall on the right of the cave entrance. The cool rock against his skin caused a smile to appear on his face. How good it was to be alive.

Ori was sat on a chair just outside. If Kili was careful, he could kill Ori quickly from behind and hide the body and chair before anyone realised he'd been killed. Reaching into his quiver of arrows and pulling one free, he placed the arrow gently between the bow-string and the thin piece of wood he held.

A drowsy groan made Kili jump and he pressed himself against the cave wall as much as possible, the shadows of night acting as a veil to hide him from the approaching person. "How are you getting on, Ori?" a voice murmured.

Ori turned and smiled at the approaching figure. "I'm a bit bored! It feels like I've been here _ages."_

The figure stepped into the light and Kili mentally hit himself. There stood Dori, the dwarf he'd accidentally stepped on earlier. He must have woken him up, after all. The dwarf cursed in the language of Mordor which the true Kili didn't know.

There was a really tense moment as Dori stood just before the exit to the cave, meaning Kili was just a few inches away from him. The manipulated dwarf stared at Dori for a moment as he contemplated what to do.

If he killed Dori, he would have to be quick to kill Ori if he didn't want to raise the alarm. However, the dwarf had never used a bow before and had only seen how to use one by watching his former companions. He knew that with his skill, he would be unable to kill them both in the speed required for it not to get noticed and the alarm would be raised. The reason Kili had attempted using the bow in the first place with Ori was because it seemed like the more stealthy thing to do at the time.

The only thing Kili could do was watch Dori with a piercing gaze as he waited impatiently for him to step closer to his brother, giving him the chance to consider other killing methods.

Suddenly, a thin piece of wood was shoved across the dwarf's chest and he stumbled as his upper body was forced against the chest of another. "Kili, son of Dis, what might you be doing with a bow at this hour right after regaining consciousness?"

Kili's eyes narrowed as he realised who his attacker was... the old wizard. Gandalf, he believed was his name and already he knew he didn't like him.

The wizard had been giving the true Kili suspicious glances the second he began to take control of his mind. The wizard had sensed his presence inside Kili's body, something others quickly forgot, and had watched Kili with a close eye. The true Kili had failed to notice the wizard but he hadn't. He'd seen the wizard's eyes always trailing, forever watching.

Kili made a high, snake-like sound through his teeth and lifted his feet off the floor. With a twist, he turned his body so his back was to the staff and kicked Gandalf roughly in the chest with two feet. Gandalf barely stumbled, but he did drop the staff in one of his hands so Kili was freed.

The dwarf sheathed the blade which he'd kept at his waist and held it out in front of him. He did have experience with a sword and Gandalf well aware of this. The wizard, knowing Kili was not entirely sane, wished not to harm the young dwarf. Spinning his staff, he smashed the bottom of it against the floor with a _crack_. The impact coupled with the sound woke up the company with a shot.

That ruined his assassination plan.

"What is going on, Gandalf?" Dori asked, who'd seen the brief fight but had been too stunned to move. The remainder of the company asked similar questions, some of them directing it towards Kili, while others just blinked at the two. Wasn't Kili supposed to be unconscious? Why did they both have their weapons drawn?

Gandalf stared directly at the dwarf, daring him to make any movements. Kili stared back, daring him to speak. An intense atmosphere settled around the two before the grey wizard spoke, "Kili is being manipulated."

Shocked whispers echoed around the company so a sound which resembled autumn leaves in the wind lifted into the night air. Thorin drew Orcrist from its sheath and the rest of the company followed his example, taking out their weapons and pointing them at their companion. "What do you mean, Gandalf?" The leader of the company demanded, concern for his nephew steadying his hand.

Never for a second did Thorin doubt the wizard's claim. He'd remembered the wizard mentioning a dark spirit before and, although it remained in the back of his mind, he didn't forget it. That, coupled with Kili's queer behaviour of late, made it almost certain that the claim was true.

Fili also came to this conclusion. However, he was far more reluctant to draw his swords than Thorin and the rest of the company were. Kili was his brother: his flesh, his blood... the brown-haired dwarf whom he'd spent the entire of his life with. The young prince who always used to get him into trouble and the innocent child who seeked comfort in him after their mother's death. They had experienced both sorrow and joy together and Fili knew that if the company attacked Kili, he wouldn't be able to join in. Regardless of this situation.

The great wizard replied, "Just as I say, Thorin Oakenshield. Kili is being manipulated. He was attempting to attack Dori and Ori only a moment ago." Ori looked nervous at the news and Dori stepped closer to his brother, like he was trying to protect him from the evil. Nori also moved nearer to both his brothers and looked much more battle-ready than before.

"What would you advise we do?" Thorin asked, not taking the failed attack on members of his company lightly. If Gandalf hadn't awoken (good thing he was a very light sleeper) then both Ori and Dori could be dead. He couldn't make another mistake.

Meanwhile, Kili glanced around at the pairs of eyes looking in his direction and he knew he was in trouble. He cursed mentally the name of the grey wizard, before he began to look for means of escape.

The only entrance was the main one in the front as far as the dwarf could tell and both Dori and Ori were stood there. He knew he could probably defeat Ori in a battle fairly quickly but Dori was a much more capable fighter. If he engaged in combat with one, it would engage it with the other. Thus, that method would fail.

Glancing back to the bulk of the company, he wondered what else he could do. If he couldn't fight his way through Ori and Dori, and the young dwarf wasn't even going to consider running through them with all the eyes trailing him, he considered one final method... using a hostage. The dwarf considered this method as a small grin spread across his dwarven features. He'd thought up the perfect candidate. This was going to be fun!

Suddenly dashing forward, he grabbed the figure whom he'd decided would be best for a hostage and pulled back quickly as a sword narrowly missed him. Gandalf's eyes widened in horror as he pointed his staff threateningly at the dwarf but Kili only laughed.

Bilbo squirmed as Kili held his sword to the hobbit's throat and the company fell deathly silent. Fili felt his heart beat at an incredibly fast pace as he watched the scene unfold in front of him. "Well, this is an interesting development," Kili noted. His voice was uneven and eerie which send shocks down the spines of all those there.

Gandalf took a step forward, to which Kili held his sword closer to the hobbit's neck. The sword nicking Bilbo on occasion. Bilbo breathed hard as tried to duck beneath Kili's sword but Kili reacted quickly and lifted the Baggins back to his proper height. "Who are you, creature from the depths of Mordor?" Gandalf asked, his voice solemn.

The dwarf replied with an expression just as solemn, "Oddly enough, _he _asked the same question."

"He?" The wizard asked, pressing the dwarf to continue. He was being careful not to make any sudden moves in case Kili took that as a threat to his safety and hurt the hobbit.

Fili glanced at the floor, "He means Kili... the... the real Kili."

Kili switched his blank expression to the young dwarf. "You're his brother, are you not? Maybe it would have been much more interesting to hold you hostage than this very out-of-place creature."

Bilbo glanced up with an annoyed look. Despite his fear, he murmured, "Hobbit. Out-of-place hobbit." Kili, not really understanding what he meant by the term, kicked the hobbit in the back of the leg so he crumpled on the floor. This attracted some very filthy looks.

Thorin spoke, "What do you want here? To possess the body of one of our company and then threaten us all?"

Kili didn't even blink. "Why should I answer to you? You are no master of mine and I hold two members of your party's lives, as of now. I could possibly gain more in the future."

"Could you at least tell us who you are?"

"Who I _was_," Kili corrected. "And for me to admit my name would be at the loss of my pride."

"You care for _pride?" _Thorin said 'pride' with a sneer.

"No, but the true dwarf cares for it. Some characteristics slip through when you're manipulating someone," Kili replied simply. "However, I rarely listen to them. Hence why I'm holding _him _hostage."

Dwalin spoke up after being silent for so long. "Well, what do you want, you loathsome lowlife?"

Kili pressed the sword closer to Bilbo's neck again so the neck and sword were actually making contact. "I want you all dead! However, letting me escape will suffice for now."

Nori replied for the whole company when he said, "And let you kill us in our sleep?! Letting you go will the suicide on our-"

"Very well," Thorin said simply.

"Thorin!" Fili exclaimed, aghast that Thorin was even agreeing with this. "You let him go, then what of Kili? We leave him with this monster! And Bilbo, what of him? There is no way he will let him go free!"

Bofur placed a comforting hand on his companion's shoulder, "It will be alright, lad."

Fili shook the hand off. "You don't know that, Bofur!"

Thorin glanced over to his nephew, looking back to his enemy frequently as he did so. "What do you propose I do then, Fili? I don't let him go then we lose our burglar and even if I were to do that; what could we do then? Torture him for information? That would bring harm to Kili. We have to let him go for now."

Kili nodded curtly, "Wise choice."

Thorin gestured for Dori and Ori to move away from the exit and they moved closer to the rest of the company. Kili backed closer to the exit before hitting Bilbo sharply in the back of the head. The hobbit fell unconscious with a _thump _and Kili ran swiftly up the path. There was little point in him killing the hobbit - if he did, that would be a risk to his escape.

Fili, unable to bare the thought of his brother being in the hands of such a monster, chased after him. "FILI!" Thorin called, but there was no reply from his nephew as he disappeared into the dark.


	6. Chapter 6

**This chapter is rated T for blood and I hope you guys like it. It took a bit of time for me to decide where to end it and I'm not proud of it. It feels too fast paced :P **

**I hope you like it regardless though :)**

Fili was unaware of which direction he was going in or how fast, but he knew he was running. As fast as he possibly could, adrenalin acting as his fuel, as he powered swiftly on. The trees with their scrawny fingers clawed at the dwarf; drawing blood or a shred of cloth on occasion but Fili couldn't afford to take time to acknowledge this. He could barely afford to carry his sword which slowed him down considerably.

"Kili!" He called as he continued blindly through the growth of trees. There was no response from his brother and frustration with a mix of despair filled his heart.

Fili breathed heavily as he failed to take in enough oxygen to keep powering on like he was and forced himself to stop. It was pointless to keep running when there was no way to keep up and for all he knew, he'd gone the wrong way to his runaway brother.

Placing his hands on his knees, Fili gasped a few times and thought about what he should do next. He could try to continue through the dark but Kili's hair melted perfectly into the darkness, making finding him extremely difficult. There was also the matter that if he did finally catch up to Kili, what would he do then? He couldn't fight him and Kili was hardly going to come willingly.

If you could call that thing, Kili.

Straightening up, Fili examined the wood around him. There was a large thicket of trees in every direction with none of them varying in size or type. Their bark was covered in moss from age and was dark brown as if it were dying in the dim light. None of the directions looked as if someone had passed through recently, besides the way he'd just came which was covered in footprints.

Having finally regained his breath, the young dwarf prince called out again with a heavy heart, "Kili!"

No response.

"For the name of Durin's sake, where are you?!" He knew somewhere deep in his soul that the calling was pointless. That his brother - no, the person controlling his brother - was never going to reply and that he was never going to find him now in this darkness. However, Fili couldn't bring himself to just turn his back on Kili. It felt wrong and the very thought of turning back for the cave weighed on him heavily.

Suddenly, much to Fili's surprise, an arrow plunged itself in the floor before him. The arrow wasn't lavishly decorated but it was clearly a work of fine carpentry. Thin and brown at the shaft while the broadhead was freshly sharpened. The yellow fletching on the end of the arrow bristled slightly in the breeze and that is when Fili registered who the arrow belonged to.

The attacker landed on the forest floor heavily, leaves cracking as they scattered. Weariness gripped Fili as he scanned the figure, perplexed over how he should act.

"Did the deal not suffice?" Kili asked dryly. He'd heard his normal's brother and after a little while he'd grown irritated of hearing his voice. He decided to take care of him. If he wished not to be killed, Fili shouldn't have followed.

Despite knowing that Kili's manipulator was probably planning how to kill him, Fili felt no fear in their presence. His brother's manipulator used the face of his brother. He could feel no fear when faced with that face, unless if it was covered in blood.

"Who are you?" Fili asked after some time. It was a stupid question. He knew it as soon as he said it but he could think of none others. Kili blinked slowly with an emotionless disgust.

"You risked your life just to ask me who I am?" Kili asked with no small degree of patronization. "I have heard the rumours about dwarves being a rather... peculiar race. You and your merry band, though, have been nothing short of idiotic thus far. This, however, is a very peculiar act."

Fili's eyes narrowed slightly, "You speak false of dwarves?"

"I speak the opinions of others," Kili corrected. Kili spoke oddly, like he was forging politeness and this gave Fili a headache. He seemed so aloof... it was almost as if Kili felt better than everyone around him but refused to show it. Fili found himself trying to match the royalty-like way of speaking.

"Who are you?" Fili repeated again coldly. The manipulator was very reluctant to share this information.

"We went through this conversation earlier with your entire band of dwarves present, did we not? Why should I utter my name to you? A petty dwarf?"

Fili snarled slightly at the term but managed to retain his composure. "You know my name, but I don't know yours. Besides Kili, I have nothing to refer to you by. I can't even refer to you by species as I know little on what you are."

Kili considered this for a moment but quickly decided. "I still wish not to admit my name."

"Why?" Fili questioned, getting a little annoyed.

"As I said earlier, I would be losing pride. In my culture, admitting your name is like killing a comrade in yours. It's damned and scorned at and although I care little for pride, I wish to follow this. I refuse to utter my name. However, you may refer to me by any name you wish."

"I think 'Dae' will suit you," Fili said sharply, trying to get some reaction.

Kili didn't react. "If that is what you wish to call me, Dae it is. Dae is the word for shadow in Sindarin if I'm not incorrect. Since dwarves and elves have a rather strained relationship, that is a clever use of words."

Fili nodded. He finally had the question he really wanted to ask in his mind and said it carefully, as if testing uneven ground. "I have one question I need to ask you Dae..." He paused before he began. "Why... why are you doing this to my brother? Out of everyone in the company, why him? My brother is young and skilled, but there are others in the company who are more so. Those who are stronger and less green. Why did you choose my brother out of everyone to manipulate?" Fili tried to keep his voice firm, but found it shaking.

Dae took a step forward, then another. He kept walking towards Fili until he was at an arm's length away from him. "I'm bored with these questions," He admitted.

The next moment was a blur... Fili wasn't sure what happened exactly... All he felt was pain in the centre of stomach as Dae forced something sharp into him. He remembered a groan escaping his lips and then he was leaning drowsily on his brother's shoulder. Something red was on Fili's hands - he saw it through blurred eyes - and some splashed on his brother's body also.

Dae pushed him to the floor and he landed with a crunch on the leaves. Some got stuck in his hair. It wasn't until then did he notice the sword that had pierced him through. Dae stood above him now, looking mildly pleased with himself. "That arrow earlier was supposed to kill you," Fili managed to hear as his ears buzzed from dizziness. "I appear to lack skill in archery."

Fili screamed as Dae grabbed the hilt of the word that was lodged firmly in his stomach and pulled it out effortlessly. The act increased Fili's dizziness but it also made him a little more conscious of the situation.

Dae was going to kill him.

Reaching for the sword at his hip with bloodied fingers, he attempted weakly to pull it from its sheath. He couldn't. He lacked the strength to. With a groan, he reached into his clothing and fumbled for the small knife hidden there.

_'What are you doing, you can't kill, Kili!' _a voice spoke from within Fili's consciousness and Fili froze. It was true that if he killed his beloved brother he would never be able to forgive himself. However, if he didn't do something, he was going to die.

_'You promised mother you would protect Kili... You promised father you would protect Kili... You promised yourself you would protect Kili... You promised Kili you would protect him...'_

Dae straightened the bloodied sword and held it above Fili's heart.

_'You promised...'_

Fili removed his hand from his clothing slowly and felt his eyes fill slightly with tears. He didn't want to die. He was scared. However, he couldn't kill his brother. He held him too dear. "I hope... Thorin and the others... will someday cure you..." He murmured tiredly as Dae looked as if he was about to bring down the sword. "Live on..." Blood loss made Fili's limbs fall lifelessly as he waited to greet the halls of death. His vision darkened...

"STOP IT! Leave him alone, please! Don't kill my brother, I beg of you!" Fili was unable to open his eyes again but he recognised the voice immediately.

"Kili..." He whispered as his hearing disappeared also.

X-X-X

Frustration, anger and fear mixed together into one massive ball of emotion inside Thorin as he examined the forest around him. He felt clueless, but continued to look for he could do little else. After Fili's reckless decision to follow his brother, Thorin divided the company into groups of three to look for him. "He could be killed," Balin had said as Thorin assigned the teams.

The teams were made up of Dwalin, Dori and Ori in one team: Nori, Gloin and Bilbo in another and Oin, Bombur and Bifur made up the third. Himself, Bofur and Balin made up the fourth and Gandalf waited at the end of the forest so he could signal everyone when somebody returned.

Bofur and Balin kept pace easily besides their emotional leader. "Stupid fool," Thorin muttered darkly to himself as he examined the path right ahead while Bofur examined the left and Balin, the right.

"I hope the lad is alright," Bofur said to his more calm accomplice.

"It was a very reckless thing for him to do," Balin replied. "He has dishonoured Thorin."

"You care for such a trivial thing?" Bofur raised an inquisitive brow.

"No. Neither does anyone in the company, I believe. However, Thorin is the heir to the thrown of Erebor. He cares for such things."

Bofur cast a longing glance at his leader. "You think that's why he's so upset?"

Balin shook his head. "I believe it's a part, but I should imagine he's just very concerned for both his nephews. They're his only family, after all."

Suddenly, Thorin stopped in his tracks and Balin and Bofur stopped abruptly after. At first, they didn't know why Thorin had stopped but then they saw the bloodied mess on the ground. Balin and Bofur immediately ran over to the body and began to check for vital signs. "He's still alive, at least," Bofur said optimistically as he placed two fingers on the body's neck.

"He's breathing. but it's shallow. He's lost a lot of blood."

Thorin was aghast as he saw his bloodied nephew on the ground; pale and unconscious. As Balin and Bofur fussed over Fili, he punched a nearby tree with a crack - putting all his emotions into it. Balin and Bofur jumped at the sound and stared at him - frozen. "Damnable evil..." Thorin hissed beneath his breath.

Bofur stood, leaving Fili to Balin. "Thorin, the lad needs help. I understand you are upset but if we want to save him, we are going to need your help, my liege."

"Reckless, idiotic fool!" Thorin continued to hiss. A few moments passed and Bofur stared at his leader's back with empathy before Thorin turned away from the cracked tree and joined his comrades at his nephew's side.

Balin spoke urgently. "We need to get him out of this forest. The dirt can easily get into and infect his wound. We also need to contain his bleeding. Pass me anything you have which is long and can cover it. I will wrap it properly back at the cave." Bofur unwrapped the scarf around his neck and passed it the old man. Thorin tore a sleeve off his underclothes.

Balin wrapped both expertly around the young dwarf's stomach. "This should hold. We need to get back to the cave. I'm sure Gandalf and Oin will be able to stop the bleeding but we need to act quick-"

Thorin picked up his nephew and held him in both arms before Balin had the chance to finish. He turned to Bofur. "Run back and tell Gandalf what happened. Have him alert everyone that we have found Fili. Me and Balin will have to journey slower to not harm Fili further," Thorin ordered. Bofur nodded curtly before he ran off obediently.

Thorin glanced down at his pale nephew. With a small frown, he said, "In the name of Durin... What have you done to yourself, Fili. You stupid fool." Then, he began to travel back up the forest path. Silently praying for his nephew's safety.


	7. Chapter 7

**Thanks to littleblackcatty for reviewing *hugs* **

**I hope you like this chapter. I worked hard on it but it still seems weird :L **

Bilbo had a natural sense for danger. He could feel it looming when it arose and as a child, he'd embraced it. He used to love danger for he was a Took on his mother's side. Very adventurous sort, they were. As he grew older, Bilbo began to distance himself from looming danger and became a very un-adventurous and consistent hobbit. Bilbo began to prefer ignorance to knowing. He felt the former kept him away from more danger than the latter.

Bilbo could feel the sharp pangs of looming danger now as he stood at the mouth of the cave on look out. The dwarves being more occupied on their unconscious kin than their safety. Bilbo bit the end of his pipe as the pangs grinded against his nerves, making him feel nauseous. So much had happened that night that it was a wonder how he could reflect on the day's events at all.

Kili's odd behaviour, Kili's manipulation, being held hostage, getting knocked out, searching for Fili and now tending to Fili's unconscious and badly injured form... Bilbo hoped that luck would turn in the company's favour pretty soon for it was going to take a lot to recover from this night.

Gandalf waved his staff over the golden-haired prince's battered form and began to heal his wound. According to Balin's observation, Kili had stabbed Fili right through the torso with his sword. Damaging his stomach organ greatly. "Fili will die from this wound unless Gandalf can heal him," Balin said gravely to Thorin as he examined the exiled king's nephew once they were back at the cave. He knew it was no time to sweeten his words.

"Even with Oin's remedies and the bandages, there is too much bleeding. The stomach is vital for survival so even if we could stop the bleeding; me and Oin can do nothing about the internal damage. That in itself would kill Fili. We need Gandalf to heal his it."

The grey wizard murmured various incantations as he tried to heal Fili's stomach wound. He was far from the best when it came to healing amongst the wizards. Saruman was best for things like this. However, he was a very wise wizard and knew much about magic. As time gradually passed, Fili's wound mend to heal and the bleeding stopped. Then, the wound completely closed. There was a long red line which would permanently blemish Fili's skin where the sword had been but otherwise, the dwarf was completely healed.

Gandalf moved away his staff but looked far from impressed with his handiwork. He knew there was another presence joined with Kili's but after mentioning it initially, he never brought the matter up again. It was a foolish mistake on his part. One which caused Fili to get badly hurt and Kili to get away. Thus, healing the dwarf did little to dampen his guilt.

"Thank you," Thorin said gratefully once the wizard had finished. He didn't look too grateful. Pride prevented him from showing it too much, but Gandalf could sense he was very much so. Thorin moved so he was sat at his nephew's side and began to undo the braids in his flaxen hair. "When will he wake up?"

Balin replied, "I don't know. However, there is now nothing keeping him unconscious. I should imagine it won't be too long before Fili awakens."

Thorin closed his eyes before muttering darkly. "He is such a fool."

"Aye. The lad almost got himself killed for being so reckless. I understand how he feels about his brother. I dare say I would do exactly what he did if I were in his position. However, to engage in combat was a very foolish thing indeed."

Nori, who'd been listening, frowned. "I'm surprised he wasn't killed though. Clearly, Kili had the opportunity to. Why didn't he finish him off?"

"Maybe he just wanted him to bleed to death?" Gloin responded. "He seemed like the sort to do that kind of thing."

Bifur said something in the dwarven language and Oin nodded. "That is true. It seems likely that he would have thought Fili was dead. He looked very much so when we first came in."

Dori bit the bottom of his lip. "But he knows we have a wizard. I would think Kili would have checked, just to be sure, that Fili was dead as Gandalf can heal grave injuries. As shown earlier, Fili will do anything in his power to be together with his brother. His old brother. Why would Kili be so thoughtless as to not check that Fili was dead when could become a problem later should he survive?"

"He... saved me..."

The dwarves all turned from their debate and stared down at the blonde dwarf who was starting to awaken. Fili's eyes fluttered drowsily, but he was no longer in any pain - save the pain in his heart.

"Fili!" Balin placed a hand on his companion's forehead and estimated his temperature. He was slightly flabbergasted by just how quick he'd awoken. "Are you okay?"

"Yes." Fili attempted to sit up but Thorin held him down.

"You need rest, Fili, you nearly died on this night." Fili was too nauseous and tired to read his uncle's expression but years of being at his side detected the forced calm in his tone.

Fili removed his uncle's hand from his chest with a weak push and sat up. His body was slouched and he leaned away from his injured side slightly but he was strong enough to keep himself upright. When Thorin attempted to push him back down again, Fili stopped him by grabbing his wrist in a weak hold. Like the earlier push, it would have been easy for Thorin to overpower his nephew. However, he could sense that the blonde dwarf had something he wanted to say. Thorin placed his hands on his thighs after Fili let his wrist go.

Fili could feel the many eyes on him and he closed his eyes. "Kili... he saved my life."

Bofur raised an inquiring brow. "What are you talking about, lad? Wasn't he the one who did this to you?"

Fili crinkled his nose a little at the question. "Yes... but at the same time... no."

_"He's gone nuts," _Gloin whispered to Nori who nodded in agreement.

Fili, realising how bizarre what he just said was, continued. "Dae was the one who did this to me... but the real Kili saved me."

"Dae?" Thorin questioned. "You got his name out of him?"

Fili shook his head. He spoke slowly, still drowsy from his near death experience. "He was pretty insistent on not sharing it. However, he said I could call him anything I wished. I came up with that."

The company nodded as they realised the meaning of the name.

Fili glanced down at the floor, a forlorn expression on his face. "Dae came to meet me after he heard me calling for Kili. We talked a bit, but he started to get annoyed with all the questions. That is when he stabbed me. I was taken by surprise and it was too late to try to defend myself. He was about to stab me again when he... changed."

Ori spoke up. "Changed?"

"Indeed. He started to speak normally again and was begging for me to be kept alive. I don't know what happened beyond that but I'm sure that the person who was begging was Kili. He saved my life. I'm sure of it..."

Thorin looked his heir dead in the eyes. "Are you sure it wasn't just your mind playing games with you?"

Fili nodded, his expression still broken and depressed. Thorin noticed the glimmer of mischief had left his eyes and the light was so close to being gone it was shocking. The only thing keeping the light there was the hope of his brother returning to normal. "If I'm wrong, I would allow you to have my head. I would stake my life on that he saved me."

Thorin nodded. Silence filled the cave as the company pondered on this new information, not sure how to react to it. "So Kili is able to fight against Dae then?" Bilbo summarised, having been listening to what Fili had to say.

Fili nodded again. "It would seem so."

The idea that Kili was capable of fighting against Dae did little to rid Fili's guilt for allowing Thorin to let him go. If he was capable of fighting back, then it was Fili's and the rest of the company's job to help Kili. Instead, they'd turned their backs on him, forcing him into fighting against that monster alone. They were worse than elves for having abandoned their comrade. At this realisation, Fili felt a spark of anger flicker inside his soul. Starting off as a small flame before quickly becoming a fiery inferno which ignited the insides of Fili's body.

"You shouldn't have let him go," Fili said bitterly when his anger had began to grow.

Thorin knew this matter was going to pop up the moment Fili had awoken and had prepared a response. "What would you have had me do, Fili? Let our burglar die?"

Fili's anger grew a little more, overpowering his weak body. "So it is better for Kili to die than Bilbo?"

"I'm not saying that! Kili wasn't at immediate risk of death. Bilbo was."

"Not an _immediate _risk, no. However, by letting him go, the chances of him dying have increased. You should have seen him trying to protect me, Thorin. He is barely capable of retaining his consciousness! Who knows how much longer he can hold onto it."

Oin tried to place a hand on the blonde prince's shoulder to calm him but Fili swatted it away. "Even after Bilbo was freed you didn't chase after him. Only after I did did you bother to leave the cave and the moment you found me, you couldn't care less for Kili. Does he mean so little to you? He's your _nephew! _How could you leave him fight against this monster alone?!"

"Now that's enough-" Thorin began, trying hard to hide his distress, but Fili cut him off.

"If it were me or another member of the company who were in his position would you turn your back on them too? Or is Kili just a special case?"

Thorin bashed his fist against the floor. There was a loud crash which echoed around the save and Fili silenced. However, the look of complete rage was evident on his face. Thorin hissed out the words, "Don't think I don't care for your brother, Fili. Don't think I don't care for all the members of this company. Your brother is my family too, not just yours.

"If I had chased off after your brother I could have easily ended up dead. As could anyone else in the company. You came so close to dying that I would think you would see more sense. Even if I didn't end up like that and it was Kili who ended up dying, is that a better result? Either way, nothing good could come out of following him. You are proof of that."

Fili sighed deeply, feeling tired with the argument. "So what now? We just leave Kili as he is?"

"No," Thorin said. "We look for answers on a cure."

**Any critiques let me know :) **

**I just love Thorin and Fili conflict :D**


	8. Chapter 8

**I GOT THREE REVIEWS! THREEE! *hugs reviewers in most crushing bear hug ever* THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!**

**So, because of that, here's a quick update :) **

Fili never expected the whole company to get involved in helping his brother.

Sure, he knew they were loyal and good companions but this was really unexpected. Their actions to try to aid his brother warmed his punctured heart and the blonde prince smiled, completely grateful.

After Thorin announced that they were going to look for a cure, the whole company - not just Fili and Thorin - all offered their services. Each one suggesting different things they could possibly do.

"We'll look into how Kili became like this," Bofur offered in the place of Bombur and Bifur.

"We'll look into who and what Dae could possibly be," Dori, Nori and Ori added.

"Bilbo and I will keep watch and cook," Gloin suggested. (Bilbo felt surprised by Gloin's suggestion. He hadn't really talked to him throughout the journey but he supposed it was to keep him out-of-the-way.)

"And I'll look into where Kili possibly went," Dwalin finished, cracking his fingers as he spoke. Out of all those who offered assistance, he seemed the most eager. He wanted revenge for this attack on the possible future heir of Durin should Thorin and Fili die in battle.

That left Fili, Thorin, Gandalf; Oin and Balin to look for the cure.

Bofur sat in the corner of the cave with Bombur and Bifur at his sides."...We know tha' the lad began acting strange the day afta' the Azog incident," The dwarf with the odd-shaped hat said at one point. "So, something could 'ave happened during the Goblin Tunnels or during tha' fight against Azog which caused Dae to appear."

Bifur spoke in the ancient dwarvish language and Bofur nodded his head. "I didn't notice any injuries on him afta' escaping the Goblin Tunnels either. Ya' must be right about it happening during the Azog fight then. The lad got two bad injuries afta' getting bitten on the leg by a warg and getting hit on the shoulder by an orc during tha' fight. Like Balin said before, there could've been somethin' on the weapons that did this to him. Something like-a poison..."

Meanwhile on the other side of the cave, Nori and Dori were arguing about what Dae could possibly be..."They must be an orc," Nori was saying. "No thing other than an orc could do something like this."

"A goblin could," Dori said back sharply. "And we were in a cave filled with them."

"A goblin is too stupid to know how to manipulate someone."

"And an orc isn't?"

Ori watched the arguing like he was watching a tennis match, constantly looking from person to person as the argument continued.

Dwalin grabbed a map of the area and pinpointed where Fili was found and began to inspect the many different paths that Kili could have taken. "He is probably heading towards Mirkwood," Dwalin observed as he spoke to Bilbo (who loved maps and wanted to be of some help)

"Why do you think that?" Bilbo questioned.

The bulky dwarf pointed at the map. "There are only three paths branching from that forest where we found Fili. One lead back to where this cave is and Gandalf ensured that he didn't come back. The second path on the left leads to a dead-end - a cliff with a thousand metre drop. The only possible path he could have taken was the third which heads towards Mirkwood."

"What if he strayed from the path?" Bilbo wasn't trying to be awkward but it was possible Kili didn't stick to the path in case the dwarves tried to track him - like they were doing now.

Dwalin pointed at the borderline of the forest. "The forest's surrounded by large cliffs. You wouldn't be able to get out of the forest by straying unless if you wanted to fall to your death. This design continues until you reach Mirkwood."

Bilbo looked over to Thorin and Fili who were looking pretty confused at some medical books of Oin's. "Are you going to tell them of your findings?"

Dwalin looked down at the hobbit and pushed him forward. "You can."

Too intimidated by the dwarf's bulkiness and gruff voice to argue, Bilbo walked over to Fili and Thorin. They were sat separate from the rest of their group who actually understood the terms used in the medical books. Bilbo could hear snippets of their conversation as he approached. It was hard not to get amused by their confusion.

" L.. ll...an...llan..." Fili was murmuring as he tried to sound out a word in one of the books. "Llan...val... Llanval?" Fili rubbed his forehead in bewilderment, looking aghast. "What does that even mean?!"

"It's a type of flower used to heal infection," Thorin read from the book. He seemed just as lost as his nephew did.

"How is that supposed to cure Kili?!"

"How am I supposed to know?!" Thorin replied sourly.

Bilbo tapped Thorin on his shoulder at that moment, sensing a potential argument brewing. It had been tense between Fili and Thorin since their most recent argument. The dwarven prince looked up at the hobbit with tired eyes. "Dwalin thinks he knows the way Kili went."

Fili suddenly seemed extremely interested in the hobbit from Bag End. "Really? Where?" He seemed like he was trying to suppress his overflowing hope. The most important thing required to help Kili, besides a cure, was for him to actually be back with the company (in Fili's opinion.) Just Kili being there could help in finding a cure. That and Fili was already missing his brother deeply - even though he was pretty much possessed right now and had tried to kill him recently.

"Towards Mirkwood forest. Apparently it's the only possible path he could have taken out of that forest," Bilbo continued.

The golden-haired dwarf reached for his sword when a hand stopped him, grabbing him tightly by the wrist. "What do you think you're doing?" Thorin asked his nephew. He spoke as if Fili was doing the most insulting thing he could have possibly done.

Fili looked dead into his uncle's crystal blue eyes. "Going out to find Kili. What does it look like?"

"You just got stabbed my him, Fili!" Thorin exclaimed, making sure to keep his voice down. "Kili is dangerous. This Dae character could easily kill you if you encounter him again."

Fili yanked his hand free. He could see his uncle was genuinely concerned for his safety so he refused to allow himself to get too angry with his uncle, even though he was bothered a little. He also spoke with a hushed voice. "Kili's my brother. He's your nephew, Thorin. We both should protect him, no? I don't care if I die trying to save his life. That's my job as a brother. Shouldn't that be your job too? As his uncle if not as his leader?"

Bilbo was unsure how Thorin felt as he picked up his sword from the floor besides him and stood up. However, Bilbo had a very bad feeling. The company leader lacked all forms of emotion on his pale face. "I want a word with you outside," He said firmly as he headed out of the cave. Fili hastily picked himself up and ran to follow his uncle outside. He too didn't know what his uncle was thinking but he was prepared for the worst of his leader's anger.

Gales of wind slapped the blonde prince as he followed his uncle outside, the fresh air causing his hair to fly around at odd angles. A storm was brewing in the air, the blonde could sense. Fili rushed over to Thorin's side who stood a couple of feet away from the cave mouth. The dwarven heir of Erebor glanced down at Fili with an emotionless gaze before he spoke. "I refuse to bring the other members of the company into an avoidable, dangerous situation because of the risk to _their_ safety. I can't put their lives at risk by chasing after your brother, regardless of my feeling on the matter. Do you understand?"

Fili felt himself begin to grow frustrated. "I understand, but what about _Kili's _safety? He's a member of this company too-"

Thorin held up a hand to silence his nephew before he continued. "We head towards Mirkwood at nightfall when Dwalin and Balin are out on watch. They can be trusted with keeping this quiet from the rest of the company. Tell nobody of what we are doing. Me and you are going to look for Kili."

With that, Thorin turned and walked back to the cave. Fili stared after him, both shocked yet hopeful at his uncle's words. "Thank you, Thorin."

X-X-X

Cold, dark and scary. That's what it was like inside Kili's mind. That monster inside it with him keeps him chained to the wall of unconsciousness, always laughing at his helplessness. "This is what you get for killing me!" It would screech. "This is what you deserve!"

Kili knew little of who this monster was and what they were talking about. He couldn't link his voice with a face. He didn't even know what the monster was or looked like. There were only ever voices... then a lot of torture... Never physical torture though. Mental torture. The monster inside his mind would show him horrific images of his whole family dead or dying, crying out to him for doing it to them when he knew he hadn't.

"Stop!" Kili would cry to the darkness surrounding him. "Please, stop it!"

"This what you deserve," the voice would reply back. It took great pleasure in the dwarf's distress. The only comfort Kili had was that he knew none of the images shown to him were real... that was until Dae tried to kill Fili.

Kili knew it was real immediately, something about his brother's tone gave it away. He'd witnessed his brother questioning Dae, Fili getting stabbed by his hand and then falling to the floor; wide-eyed and dying. Kili had screamed and screamed and fought and fought against the chains binding him in an attempt to free his consciousness. However, nothing worked. He continued to fight back despite. He did everything he could to break the chains and regain his consciousness...

Something happened then. His desperation overwhelmed him so much that it surged his adrenalin. He yanked free from his chains and regained his consciousness, even if it was only for a brief time. "Don't kill him! Please, don't kill him! I will do anything!" He'd screamed. He knew there was a possibility his brother was already dead but clutched to the hope he was still alive.

Turning away from his brother, he ran as quickly as he could from his brother's limp body; zigzagging through the trees to confuse Dae once he grabbed hold of his consciousness again which Kili knew was inevitable. By the time Dae was back in control, Kili was far from his brother's body.

He'd been punished greatly for it. Dae constantly showed him images of the incident and Kili always felt the most intense fear from it, coupled with horrible guilt at what he did.

Now though, he sat surrounded in the dark bleakness of his mind, preying for his brothers well-being. Dae had surrounded him with more chains now and he could barely breathe amongst them.

_'Please be okay, Fili! Please... live on...'_

**This chapter was meant to end with the Fili part but I thought the chapter was too short. **

**By the way, regardless of what this chapter may make it seem, this story is far from over :) (It kinda' seems a climax to the story for some reason.) **


	9. Chapter 9

**Another three reviews :D Thanks so much guys, it really means a lot :) **

**This chapter is mostly just family conflict XD Not too proud of it but, then again, I never am. **

Balin wasn't sure how to react when Thorin told him he and his nephew were going to look for Kili.

"Are you sure this is for the best, laddie? Just you two going, I mean," Balin had asked as he was told what his leader was about to do. Orcrist was held limply in Thorin's hand, ready to be unsheathed when necessary.

"This Dae character is merciless and won't hesitate to kill you both. However, concern for Kili will stay both your hands and this could be grave. Why not head out with others from the company who are not so close to Kili? That could lower the risk of injury and death as there would be less hesitation in time of attack. Dwalin and I would accompany you if you wished it."

Thorin shook his head. "Yourself and Dwalin are the only ones I can trust to keep this matter silent from the others. I need you both to cover for us."

Dwalin, who'd been listening, smashed his knuckles together with a crack. Thorin and Balin gave him a look which was meant to silence him but he ignored them. "Why must this be kept secret from the others?"

"I can't put anybody into unnecessary danger for my family's sake," Thorin explained. "This company is loyal and I hold no doubt that they will all wish to stand by mine and Fili's side if they are told what we are doing. However, Kili is our family, our business and our problem. The others have helped myself and Fili enough without needing to be asked and I'm grateful for that, but Kili is our problem to fix. They don't need to risk injuries on our problem."

Thorin took a resounding sigh. "Besides..." Thorin glanced over to his nephew who was quietly placing knives into his boots. He was being careful not to wake the sleeping Bombur besides him. "Fili needs to be the one to bring Kili back. He has fixated himself on it, or is close to doing so, and if he doesn't do it he will be destroyed. I'm only going to make sure he doesn't get himself killed for pulling some reckless act."

Balin nodded curtly as his leader finished. "Very well."

"Safe journey, my friend," Dwalin wished as he patted his leader on the shoulder. Thorin returned the gesture. "May Mahal bring luck to you!"

"Fili!" Thorin called as he released his friend's shoulder. The blonde dwarf jerked his head up at the sound of his uncle's (hushed) voice. "We're going!"

Carefully stepping over the many bodies lying on the floor, Fili joined his uncle by his side. They parted from Dwalin and Balin with a wordless farewell and then they both swiftly exited into the night.

X-X-X

"Have you ever been this far South before, Thorin?" Fili asked as he and his uncle walked through the forest. The same forest where Fili had been found unconscious no more than a day before.

They had been walking for some time and it was nearly dawn, but no words had been uttered until now. It was like the dark had kept their mouth's clasped shut and neither really knew what to say. Besides the incident where Thorin had agreed to look for Kili with his nephew, every conversation had led to an argument recently. However, the silence had began to frustrate Fili so he decided to ask a question distant from the tense subject of Kili.

Thorin nodded at his nephew's question, glad also to break the silence. "I went very far south after the fall of Erebor. My - our - people were exiled and I had to try to find a place for them all to settle. It took time, but eventually we settled in Ered Luin. Dis had you before we settled. You have been all around the world, including many cities of man and other dwarf kingdoms while we searched for a new home. Gondor, famed city of man, was where you were born."

Fili smiled at his uncle. "Mother told me that. She said that all the men of the land didn't know there were dwarf women, since dwarf women have beards and there aren't many of them. So her giving birth to me was a surprise."

Thorin nodded, refraining from smiling. "Do you want to know how they thought dwarves were born?"

"How?" Fili asked.

"They thought we sprung up from holes in the ground."

Fili let out a high-pitched laugh and his body shook at the obnoxious idea. "That is ridiculous!"

Thorin allowed himself to smile. "Indeed."

_'It's been so long since I laughed last,' _Fili thought to himself as he continued to chuckle. _'I haven't laughed properly since...' _Almost immediately Fili's laugher ceased. It happened so quickly that Thorin raised a brow at the sudden act. Then it hit the dwarven leader that his nephew was probably thinking about Kili and his brow lowered.

Silence came over them again, destroying the momentary ease they both had felt moments ago.

Fili, however, refused to allow the silence to linger like it had before and quickly came up with a new subject. "Have you ever entered Mirkwood before?" He questioned. "You mentioned you have been all around Middle Earth."

Thorin, realising the tension between them was growing again, replied hastily. "No. I stayed well away from Mirkwood throughout my search for a home." The pair weren't even looking at each other now.

"Why so?"

"Mirkwood is a part of the elven kingdom," Thorin said. "I refused to enter the territory of the elves so soon after being betrayed by them. It also has a fearsome reputation these days. I wouldn't enter it at all if I could help it. It is apparently very easy to get lost in there. However, it is the fastest way to Erebor."

Fili stared down at the autumn leaves beneath his feet, listening as they crunched beneath his weight. "I heard Radagast saying that spiders were seen coming out of Mirkwood. I suppose we'll see how bad it is in there when we look for Kili."

Thorin stopped in his tracks and Fili stopped a couple of moments later. "What do you mean?" He asked. Fili glanced at his uncle, uncertainty leaving a distinct expression on his face. "We aren't entering Mirkwood."

Fili's eyebrows narrowed, "Why?!" His tone was sour and filled with disgust. He spoke as if someone was trying to get him to apologise for doing something which he held no guilt for.

Thorin knew at that moment that an argument was going to break out between them and there was little point in sweetening his words. So, he replied bluntly. "We lack the supplies and the strength to enter Mirkwood. There are countless enemies in that forest and if we encounter them, we won't stand a chance. Also, if we get lost, we'll most likely starve before we can find our way again. If so much as a single thing goes wrong, we die. We can't risk it."

Fili rounded on his uncle, disbelief and anger glimmering in his eyes like thunder. "What if Kili went in there? We leave him for death? We need to get him back! You said we would enter Mirkwood."

The elder pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. Why must Fili be so awkward? "Oh, Fili for Mahal's sake... I said we would _head _towards Mirkwood. I never said anything about _entering_. Oh, Fili! Why can't you just be grateful we are looking for Kili in the first place-"

Thorin immediately stopped himself the moment the words left his mouth.

The heir of Durin hadn't thought about what he was saying and didn't mean the words he'd uttered the way they'd sounded, but he was getting annoyed by his nephew's constant questioning. He was acting spoilt. Thorin didn't mean to portray himself as someone without a care for his family.

That is what he did though.

If thunder was in Fili's eyes before what resided there now was a full-blown thunder-storm - lightning and thunder and rain and fire - all of which mixed together in a huge chaotic, deadly mass of emotion.

"Grateful... GRATEFUL! I would be GRATEFUL if this had never happened! I would be GRATEFUL if we found him! I would be GRATEFUL if you stopped being such an emotionless monster and actually CARED your own blood is out there now, stuck with a... a..." Fili stammered on his words and turned away from his uncle. He slammed his fist into a nearby tree and listened to the crack his knuckles and the tree made upon contact. Blood rushed down Fili's arm but he didn't care, he needed to get rid of his anger at his uncle's carelessness.

"'_Why can't you just be grateful we are looking for Kili in the first place?'_" The blonde imitated with resent. "You can't mean that. I hope for our family's sake you don't mean that. How can you say something like this about-"

Then suddenly, the golden-haired dwarf hesitated as he looked upon his uncle's face. Thorin looked depleted and was clearly very hurt by Fili's statements. '_Emotionless monster...' _The words rang in Thorin's ears and repeated again and again inside his mind. The words themselves though wasn't what hurt him though. It was who they had come from which hurt.

Fili stared at the floor in shame as silence fell over them again. He wanted to apologise, but at the same time, he felt something's he'd said were true. Thorin didn't appear to care nearly as much as he should about Kili's safety.

Then, without a word, Thorin stepped forward and began to walk ahead. It was like Fili no longer existed to him and he passed him as if he wasn't there. This sense of ignoring his nephew didn't last long though before...

_"You really are quite stubborn, you dwarves."_

"THORIN!"

Thorin rounded quickly on his heel just in time to avoid getting his head chopped off his shoulders. However, the speed he needed to pull of the move made him unsteady on his feet and he staggered back. He reached for Orcrist which was in its sheath and pulled it free.

"You're fast on your feet, Thorin Oakenshield," Dae praised in slight awe as he held his sword in both hands. "Faster than my brother over there."

"You are no brother of mine," Fili spat. He too had unsheathed his twin swords. "You tried to kill me!"

"Indeed. Actually if it weren't for... certain circumstances... you would be. Judging by the fact you stand before me only a day after I inflicted the injury upon you, the wizard pulled some trick. I've come to finish the job. I knew the moment I didn't kill you completely you would survive so I've been waiting for you to show up, knowing you are too stubborn not to. However, to bring Thorin Oakenshield with you... now that's interesting." Once again. Dae lacked all form of emotion on his face as he spoke.

Thorin took a step sideways so he was stood besides his nephew, all former tension forgotten momentarily. "You seem pretty fixated on Fili for someone who you have only known for a day."

Dae sighed. "I find myself being... drawn towards him. The dwarf whose body I now possess holds great feelings for Fili as they are brothers and, like I said before, certain feelings and characteristics always slip through. I need to get rid of this... bond as you may call it... if I wish to function in this body. It's annoying me."

Fili suddenly smiled - a large proud smile which also came across as a form of mocking to his enemy. "Kili saved me once didn't he? Before..."

Dae nodded slowly. "He did indeed. He went quite manic as well trying to. Don't worry though. He is rotting in chains inside his own mind now, like what he deserves."

Thorin shared a glance with his nephew and he nodded in response. They knew each other well enough to know what the other was thinking if they tried hard enough to listen. (It would have stopped the earlier argument if they had done this before. If they had simply tried to understand the other.) Thorin then began to slowly walk away from his nephew's side. "What he deserves?" Fili asked. "How so?"

Dae didn't appear to catch on to what was going on immediately but was very aware of a possible surprise attack from behind. "He killed me. That dwarf did. He killed me and now he is getting what he deserves."

"Judging by your language though, you understand the common tongue. That suggests you are no orc, which I know my brother has killed a lot of."

Dae nodded. "Yes, I'm no orc."

"My brother has killed no elves either so you are not an elf," Fili continued. "They also use elvish more than common tongue anyway."

Dae nodded again. "Quite right."

"So... you must be a goblin. You have the joy of pain in you, though you try to hide it which I find odd. You speak in the common tongue, which goblins do and I know my brother has killed goblins."

Dae shook his head and for the first time ever, he actually showed some form of emotion. A very small smile which looked nothing short of smug and twisted. "Wrong!"

"NOW!"

Taking Dae's smugness as a sign he was no longer prepared for attack, both Fili and Thorin jumped forward and attacked him. Fili grabbed his arms and pinned them behind his back while Thorin punched him in the temple, knocking the manipulated dwarf unconscious before he could fight back.

"Grab his arms and I'll hold his legs!" Thorin ordered as he grabbed his unconscious nephew's legs. Fili followed the orders without question, ignoring the tension that had settled between them now they were practically alone again. "We need to get him back to camp before he wakes. We can restrain him there! We need to go _right _now."

"Alright," Fili mumbled as they began to hurry back through the forest.

**A nice Fili and Thorin argument to brighten the day :)**

**Hope you enjoyed this guys.**


	10. Chapter 10

**FIVE REVIEWS! FIVE! FIVE! THANK YOU SO MUCH GUYS! ASDFGHJKL!**

**This chapter, I think, is one of the weakest written ones as it was difficult to write the dialogue. However, I hope you guys like it regardless.**

"What in _Durin's name _have you two been doing?!"

Whether it was out of anger that he'd not been told or concern, Fili didn't know. However, he knew that Gandalf was far from happy with what he and his uncle had been doing during the night before.

"We had to get him back, didn't we?" Thorin replied simply as he sat his brown-haired kin on the floor in the corner of the cave. Gloin grabbed some chains he and Dwalin had been carrying in their bundles and began to wrap it around the unconscious dwarf. They chained his arms to the cave walls, one arm to one wall and the other arm to the wall beside it. They then managed to convince Gandalf to make the chains unbreakable and make them stick to the walls like concrete.

The journey back to the cave had been strenuous. If carrying an unconscious dwarf had not been hard enough, Fili and Thorin had to hurry back to the cave to make sure Kili didn't wake up before he could be restrained. This had caused them to dash rather clumsily through the forest, managing to make it back to camp within an hour.

It was noon now and the sun was high in the sky, however, the mood was far from bright around the camp. Gloomy faces stared down at their unconscious comrade (who still hadn't awoken) and some - like Bofur, Bombur and Bifur - examined Kili for injury. It was their job to find how Dae appeared in Kili's body after all and what better place was there to look for answers than Kili himself?

They found few answers though. There were no injuries they hadn't already looked into besides where Thorin had knocked him unconscious and that couldn't have been where Dae came from. So, the mood darkened as they stepped away none the wiser.

"Are you even sure Dae entered through a wound?" Dori asked Bofur who adjusted the hat on his head.

"No, but 'ave you got any other explanations for it?"

"Is it possible he came from one of the wounds he had?" Ori asked timidly from his elder brother's side. "That was... one of the original assumptions for Kili's illness."

Bifur spoke dwarvish in reply. In common tongue, he said, "_A warg bite and a sword were the causes for his injuries. Thorin was injured by a warg and he isn't like Kili and we were all wounded by swords and other weaponry. Hardly promising ways Dae could have possessed Kili.."_

So, the only explanation the dwarves had for how Dae managed to possess Kili was thrown away.

However, in the brief combat with Dae, Fili and Thorin had learnt the why... Dae wanted revenge for his death which Kili had brought about. Yet, so much remained unknown that it was hard to feel pleased with such a small revelation which Dae had stated freely on more than one occasion. It undermined the importance of the information.

Fili thought about this small snippet of information as he sat at his brother's side, combing his fingers through the brunette's hair. Oin had advised him to stay away just in case he awoke and attacked, however, Fili made the point that Kili's hands were chained. The only attacks he could do was biting and kicking and those alone wouldn't kill Fili (since he was under several layers of clothing which shielded him in a way.)

Even without all the layers Fili wouldn't have moved. The time he'd spent apart from his brother, though it had been short, was crushing. He couldn't bear to be away from his side. Like Thorin had pointed out to Balin and Dwalin before they had set out to look for Kili, he had fixated himself on bringing Kili back. Fili had feared he would never see his brother alive again after the act of defiance Kili had made to save his brother's life. Though, now he could actually think about it, the blonde realised how stupid this worry was. Dae would have to kill himself to carry it out.

Thorin did also join Fili at Kili's side for a few minutes at a time, but this never lasted long. The tension was so high between them since the most recent outbursts that it was unbearable to be at each other's sides for more than a few moments. Though they hadn't mentioned anything about a falling out, the company quickly noticed they only interacted with each other when absolutely necessary. The glares Fili would throw in Thorin's direction whenever he wasn't looking was also clear evidence of a falling out. (If they were talking, Thorin would have criticised his nephew for being immature) Nobody brought up this matter to Thorin or Fili though.

_'Hardly healthy to keep silent,' _Bilbo couldn't help thinking. He only kept quiet about the argument because Nori had told him to.

And he was right.

X-X-X

Dae woke up at the end of the afternoon, right before the evening glow began to leave an orange hue across the land. A groan from his lips signalled his return to consciousness and Fili was quick to get away. Despite what he may have told Oin earlier, he was not keen to get kicked or bitten. Dae's eyes immediately darkened the second they saw light and he glared at each member of the company in turn, who were now surrounding him. His expression became especially dark when he saw Fili and Thorin.

"Taking me out from behind, huh? How very clever of you petty dwarves!" Dae spat with disgust. Fili quickly noted that he was now actually putting emotion into his words. Maybe the incident in the forest where he'd smiled had triggered something so he could now show emotion?

Thorin stepped forward and glanced down at Dae, a hint of pity in his eyes as he took in what had become of his nephew. "You would never have come willingly. It was the only way to get you to come with us."

Dae was far from happy to be chained to a wall in a cave filled with dwarves, a hobbit and a wizard. He tugged on his bonds furiously but they didn't so much as budge. Dae, giving up for a moment, stared at the leader of the company dead in the eyes; raising himself to his knees so their eyes were level. His glare was vicious, stabbing holes into Thorin's skull. "What business do you have capturing me, Thorin Oakenshield?"

Fili answered on his uncle's behalf. "We're trying to cure my brother as you may have already guessed."

Dae smiled like a Cheshire cat at the young prince's words. "Ahhh~ so you think me being here may help you with your task? That if you question me a bit, I might spill some information about who I am and how I pulled off this little trick? Maybe, if you're lucky, I might mention how to get rid of me!" Dae tilted his head mockingly. "How cute and how very naïve." The smile disappeared from Dae's face then and he proceeded to glare at each of the company. "Though, there's one slight problem with that plan... I refuse to talk."

Dwalin stomped forward and grabbed the manipulated dwarf by his dark brown hair, tired of the creature making a mockery out of him, his leader, his brother and his friends. He was especially angry about the tension he had caused between Thorin and Fili and the pain he must have caused to young Kili. He slammed the dwarf's back into the cave wall with a crack and immediately began to threaten him. "Want me to tear your tongue out you grotesque, despicable, disgusting monster!" He hissed.

"Please, do what you want," Dae replied simply.

Dwalin narrowed his eyes in surprise. "What!?"

Dae leaned towards the elder with a smile so twisted it would provoke jealousy in orcs. "By all means, kill me if you wish. However, you may want to know this... you dwarves may think that you have won the advantage, that you have the upper hand, but you don't. You may have me in chains but I still control the fate of your friend. You hurt me, you hurt your comrade. You could even kill your friend if you willed it and I would still live on for I hold no attachment to this body. You can do no harm to me. Only to him!" Some of the dwarves glanced at each other nervously at the dwarf's words.

"However, you appear to want to keep this Kili alive. So, this is what you're going to do... You are going to shut up and do nothing. You want to help Kili? Then do nothing! The more you try to help, the more you question me and try to find a cure the more I will hurt him. Understood? Now may be a good time to tear my tongue out, _Dwalin." _

The bulky dwarf looked sourly tempted to actually do what he said he would but he resisted. Sighing deeply to calm himself, he dropped Dae on the floor who only blinked in response.

Fili, horrified at what Dae swore he would do to his brother, spoke shakily. "You are truly a monster!"

Dae continued to smile but it had returned to a more devious smile than a twisted one. "Maybe you're right... You know, Fili, I actually have to thank you for following me into the forest that time where I stabbed you. You placed some horrid memories into Kili's head. Kili is quite... sensitive to them. They really get the stupid child to listen."

Fili raised a disturbed brow. "What do you mean?"

Dae continued as if Fili hadn't even interrupted. "... The horrified look you gave, the blood... oh, how the memory terrifies Kili. Every time I show him it he goes manic with fear. I will say I was very surprised when he managed to break my control through sheer fright and adrenalin after witnessing your stabbing when it happened. That saved your life. He was punished pretty badly for it the act though."

Fili leaned closer, terror building in the pit of his chest.. "What did you do to my brother?"

"Nothing much. Just messed with his head a bit until he was a quivering mess in the corner of his own mind."

Fili stepped back in shock

"He is screaming now, you know..."

He took another step. He didn't want to hear about what Dae was doing to his little brother. He needed to get away. However. anxiety hit Fili full force and he became too unsteady on his feet to do anything more than take one step back at a time.

"... trying to break free, trying to have control over his body again. Yet, you can do nothing to help him." Dae took pleasure in the dwarf's discomfort and continued trying to make him feel sick to the core.

Fili took a third step back.

"You can only sit as he rots away, alone and desperate with only me and the horrid images of death and torture for company. I wonder how I will harm his mentality next? Maybe show him how I will butcher you into bloody pieces the moment I'm freed-"

Suddenly, right as Fili was about to break down, Thorin leapt forward and punched Dae square in the cheek. Dae didn't make any movements to look back up at his attacker and his hair shielded his face from the onlookers. However, Fili could see the blood running down his neck.

"Hold your twisted tongue or I will gag you!" Thorin ordered. There was no response as Dae slumped to the floor. Dae felt that he'd done all the damage he could possibly do to Fili's spirit for now and was feeling pretty proud of himself - regardless of the fact he'd just gotten himself punched.

It wasn't he who experienced the pain.

Turning slowly to his oldest nephew, concern was evident in Thorin's voice as he spoke; ignoring the tension which was felt between them even now. "Are you alright, Fili?"

Fili nodded his head though he knew he was far from fine. His skin had paled and he was shaking pretty violently. His eyes were bloodshot and wide with fear and the image of his brother screaming rattled inside his mind. He knew this was what Dae wanted though.

Dae wanted to hurt him, to scare him... and he had done so. However, Fili refused to let his terror get the better of him. Fili refused to let Dae get the advantage over him.

Taking a deep breath to calm his beating heart and trying his best to avoid thinking about his brother, Fili slowly composed himself. He, like most dwarves, was stubborn and he refused to be broken by mental images of his brother in pain. He refused to allow his own mind to be his downfall. He was stronger than that. He was an heir of Durin. Mental images shouldn't break him and he wouldn't let them break him.

Once he felt he was calm enough to speak without his voice shaking, he turned to Dae who was still looking pretty smug with himself. _'I will free you, Kili!_' He said to himself. '_I will free you from the clutches of that monster or die trying.'_

**Ten points for cheesy evil-guy dialogue :L No Durin angst this chapter but there should be some in the next!**


	11. Chapter 11

**ANOTHER FIVE REVIEWS! IT IS LIKE CHRISTMAS!**

**So, here's another speedy update :) This, I think, has better dialogue than last chapter but feels a bit rushed... I don't know... tell me what you think. **

"You are truly the most annoying, stubborn creature I've ever come across!" Dae huffed as Fili sat opposite him, staring at him with large expectant eyes. He didn't say anything to the other dwarf and caused him no offence. The blonde only stared as if Dae was the sharpest sword in all of Middle Earth.

Two days had passed since Dae had been captured and Fili had spent them entirely at his brother's side. It made little sense, but Fili still had a longing to be at his brother's side; regardless of whether he was technically there or not and what insults were thrown in his direction. Fili didn't feel that way at first. For the first few hours immediately after his slight panic attack, he'd kept his distance. However, since he'd been forbidden from looking for a cure by the very person he was trying to heal, the only means he had to fix his brother was to be at his side and learn what he could from any slip ups Dae made.

Dae wasn't a fan of his company. "Would you go away?!" Dae asked gruffly.

Fili shook his head once. "You said that if we questioned you, or looked for a cure, you would harm Kili. I'm not questioning you or looking for a cure, nor is anybody else, so you have no reason to harm Kili. Thus, I have no reason to listen to anything you say."

Dae glared at his companion for a few moment before it fell from his face. "I don't need you to go against my orders in order to hurt your brother. I've hurt him badly before when you hadn't even done anything!"

Fili crossed his arms. "If you hurt Kili now; I will be very surprised," Fili admitted.

"Why?" Dae asked. However, he didn't seem particularly interested in whatever Fili had to say.

"You mentioned before you hold some sense of pride. It would be extremely dishonourable of you if you didn't keep your word," Fili explained. He'd been training himself to look emotionless in the presence of Dae and had mastered it relatively quick. He guessed it ran in the line of Durin.

Thorin had spent the last two days extremely agitated and was beginning to grow concerned at the lack of progress made on both his quest and his nephew. Fili hadn't spoken to his uncle properly in that time. They both knew that with Kili back, they didn't really need to talk to each other. This prevented further arguments but it also prevented them from apologising and forgiving each other.

It didn't help that they both didn't feel they should apologise. Fili was hurting over his uncle abandoning Kili to Mirkwood if it had come to that. Thorin was hurting over being called an 'emotionless monster.' Their dwarven stubbornness refused to believe themselves wrong and both refused to be the first to apologise. So, nothing happened between them.

"I have gone against pride before," Dae countered Fili's statement with a slight hint of boredom in his tone. "I care little for the trait."

"But I'm only _talking _to you! You wouldn't rid your pride just to make a point to me that you can do it. You aren't that sort of person."

Dae sighed, wanting the conversation to just be over with. He was sick of the blonde dwarf constantly being at his side, not questioning him but simply talking. It was extremely annoying and Dae had felt the urge to try to harm him more than once. He'd actually attempted it a few times but all had all failed. Though he hadn't given up on the hope of escape and killing all the dwarves where they stood, his struggling had ceased for the time being. "Fair enough, young dwarf. Then again, what sort of person am I?"

Fili looked at the brunette darkly. "You're a monster! A cold hearted, sadistic, twisted monster whose only good qualities come from my brother."

"Watch yourself!" The dwarf threatened. Then, Dae turned his body so he was no longer facing his brother. This was quite a challenge due to the awkward position his arms were chained in but he managed it. He propped his feet up against the wall and closed his eyes. Fili could tell he'd done this only to end the conversation rather than sleep. He never slept.

Fili stood up from the floor, not seeing much point in watching a silent dwarf and walked over to Dwalin who was fussing over a cauldron filled with some form of broth.

In the camp, the dwarves took turns cooking meals and had done since the very start of the journey. That way, nobody ended up having to cook every night. However, not everybody were good cooks. Dwalin was among those who were weak in cooking, along with Thorin. So, the dwarves dreaded whenever they were placed on cooking duty.

Today was one of those days where everybody groaned inwardly.

The concoction Dwalin was trying very hard to cook correctly (and failed miserably at that) was a bloody red colour with a mix of brown. Fili guessed he was cooking the rabbit Nori had caught earlier that day. Fili cringed at the thought of the taste. Though admittedly, rabbit soup was not a huge concern to the blonde. He had much bigger things to worry about than that.

Still, he saw little point in eating disgusting food and he couldn't do much else besides wait around anyway since he couldn't look for a cure. Fili tapped Dwalin gently on his broad shoulder and the bulky dwarf spun around. He was very red of face and condensation had made his face moist. "What do you want, lad?" He asked, clearly exasperated with his failure at cooking.

Fili leaned forward and said in a small whisper, "Add some more salt. It will mask the taste."

Dwalin glanced at the cauldron at his side then back up at the blonde. "Thanks, lad."

Not being able to hunt for a cure bothered Fili more than what he showed to the members of the company. It was a rather frustrating thing; having his brother sat right before him, yet, being forbidden from doing anything to help besides sit and talk to him.

Fili dared not take a risk and try to research when he felt Dae wasn't looking though, just in case he was caught. He knew Kili would be the one to suffer and he would hate to think he was the cause of Kili being in pain.

The soup was placed in wooden bowls and served around the company. When it came to Fili, he was served two bowls by Dwalin (one for himself and one for Kili.) Though Dae didn't need food, Kili's body needed it in order to keep functioning. So, Dae would eat a fraction of the portion begrudgingly. What made matters worse for the mysterious creature was that he had to be helped due to his hands being chained in a way so he couldn't move them.

Dae had sensed Fili's approach before the Durin reached his side and he opened his eyes, a grimace flourishing his features. "Who cooked?"

"Dwalin," Fili replied.

"Brilliant!" Dae muttered with derision, crossing his legs which were still rested against the wall. "Death by raw rabbit."

"Be grateful we're feeding you at all," Fili all but growled.

"_You_ should be grateful I'm eating it. I can survive without food!" Dae countered. "It is Kili who can't."

Fili glared at Dae for a moment and he glared back. Daggers were thrown at each other in an imaginary battle to the death until eventually, Fili lay defeated. There was no way Fili could win against Dae, who held his brother beneath a blade.

Picking the wooden spoon from the bowl, Fili scooped up some of the broth and held it to his brother's lips. He drank reluctantly, though immediately after, he began to splutter and cough. "Are you trying to poison me?!" Dae hissed, coughing into his collar so most of the concoction spilled on to his clothing.

"Dwalin's cooking isn't _that _bad!" Fili defended his comrade. He made no effort to stop the creature's coughing fit. He didn't care if he was uncomfortable - if anything, the more uncomfortable Dae was the happier Fili felt.

Dae shook his head. "It isn't the cooking that's the problem... its the salt. There's too much of it... uchhh it burns the tongue! The white orc would crush you if you served this to him and I deserve just as good a treatment," Dae coughed.

Fili replied immediately. "Whatever amount of salt added to it is an improvement from what i- wait a minute!"

Silence.

Dae stared at Fili with a somewhat mock-concerned face. Hope and dread mixed together in the blue mass which was Fili's yes and he stared at Dae for a second. Did Dae just say what he thought he said? "A white orc..." Fili murmured. Dae's eyes immediately widened in horror at his mistake and Fili knew that he was right.

"You mean Azog the Defiler," Someone voiced what Fili knew.

In one fluid motion, Thorin was on his feet and holding Dae against the wall. Silence fell over the cave at the sudden commotion and Fili, taken aback and unsure of where Thorin had come from, stood up from the floor too. He kept a very close eye on his uncle, making sure he caused no harm to his brother.

"Is he the one you work for?!" Thorin thundered, shaking the possessed dwarf by the collar of his tunic where it wasn't covered in soup. "Answer me!"

Dae glared back. "I thought I said no questioning?"

"So, you don't deny it! You damnable creature!" Thorin fumed. The look of bloodlust in his eyes was petrifying and some of the younger members of the company besides Fili - Ori and Bofur - took a step away from him.

"I don't deny it, but nor do I confirm it," Dae replied simply.

That only increased Thorin's anger. He was visibly shaking and he was barely able to contain his fiery rage. In truth, he couldn't. "Did you plan this attack?! Answer me or I will kill you myself!"

Fili, well aware of Dae saying he would hurt Kili if he was questioned, wrapped his arm around Thorin's and wrenched it down. The act caused the heir of Durin to release his hold of Dae but that didn't mean his anger was gone. He fought furiously in his nephew's hold; hatred at both his sworn enemy and the creature in front of him only fuelling his anger more. _'Damnable Azog,' _He thought. _'I will have his head for this, right after I have Dae's!'_

"Stop it, Thorin!" Fili yelled as Thorin shouted a million curses in Khuzdul. Thorin was stronger than he was and his hold on Thorin's arm was becoming weaker. "He will hurt Kili if you question him and only Kili will experience the pain you will inflict. Stop it!" Fili tried.

However, Thorin wasn't listening. He pushed Fili off his arm before he shoved him roughly to the side, sending him flying into the wall opposite. A large crack sounded as he hit the stone and Fili groaned from the force before he slumped on the ground, unconscious. The members of the company widened their eyes in horror at what their leader had just done. Thorin was unaware of what he'd done though and had his hand at Dae's throat. "You better start talking you-"

Two bulky arms grabbed Thorin from behind and he fought furiously against the grip. Dwalin frowned sadly at what had become of his impulsive leader and practically dragged him outside the cave. He would have a word with him there.

Dae watched all this with a bemused smile. _'They broke the rules by questioning me,' _he thought smugly. _'Looks like Kili is going to play the game from Hell.'_

**...and in the time space of a chapter we find out who Dae is working for, Thorin hurts Fili and Dae now has incentive to hurt Kili (Dae being somewhat kind didn't last long, now, did it?)**


	12. Chapter 12

**I'm writing this when I'm half-asleep and feeling pretty ill. So, sorry about it being a little sloppy.**

**The amount of reviews/follows/favs shot up last chapter so thank you so much guys.**

"You revealed... that on purpose... didn't you?"

Dae stared at Kili with an aura of arrogance radiating from him. Something told him Kili would notice his forced slip of the tongue, if anybody would, and he was far from surprised when the question left Kili's lips.

"I did indeed. It is well-known how much Thorin Oakenshield loathes Azog the Defiler and what better way to completely ruin all trust between him and the blonde dwarf is there besides getting Thorin angry enough to want to rip your limbs from your body?" Dae said. "Fili wants to protect you while Thorin is very impulsive. So impulsive, that he could forget that you are the one feeling the pain and would attempt to harm me when angered. I knew if I triggered his impulsive nature, no doubt some form of conflict would occur between Fili and Thorin while Fili tries to protect you and I was right. Fili won't trust Thorin after this."

Kili shuddered as the chains wrapped tightly around his body made him feel extremely numb. Dae had, for nearly three hours, been showing him every single painful memory from within Kili's mind. From the revelation of his mother's death, Fili getting stabbed and his first kill; everything which caused discomfort and pain for the dwarf was shown and he had screamed and shouted, distraught, at every one. It was only now the memories had stopped and that was when the first question had left Kili's lips as he breathed heavily.

"Did you lie about it? About working for Azog?" Kili asked slowly, as if testing uneven ground which he was unsure whether he should tread upon. Kili hated Dae and would defile him if he were another evil being. However, Dae was dangerous and Kili would be lying if he said he didn't fear him. He was very careful with what he said normally but Kili could see that Dae was willing to reveal answers and wasn't going to pass up the opportunity for some clarification.

Dae shook his head. "No," he said bluntly.

"So-" Kili began.

"Enough with the questions! I refuse to answer more. Hmmm, I wonder... I wonder what other horrors are inside your mind..."

Kili braced himself as the memories began to play once again.

X-X-X

"That impulsive, careless, reckless monster of a leader!" Fili huffed angrily as Oin wrapped a bandage around his head. "He knocked me unconscious the-"

"Careful with ya' language, laddie," Bofur said softly, trying not to seem like he was telling the blonde what to do. "Some may disrespect you for it with you being an heir."

Fili glared daggers at the floor as Oin straightened the bandage across his forehead so it was straighter. "I have hardly had a good role model for being an heir now, have I?" He replied scornfully.

The blonde prince had awoken no more than five minutes after he'd been knocked unconscious. Luckily, the blow to the head which caused it hadn't been too bad and he was mostly uninjured. However, he had cracked his head on the wall and Oin felt it needed to be dressed. It was during the time that Oin was dressing his wound that it clicked inside Fili's head what had happened and a mass of fiery emotion exploded from inside him. "Does Thorin even realise what he has done?! Dae is going to hurt Kili. Badly."

Ori, who had been watching Oin dress Fili's head wound along with Bofur, spoke quietly. "Do you think Dae was telling the truth about working for Azog?"

Fili clenched his hands into fists as Oin finished his work and began to pack his medical equipment away. "I hope for Kili's sake he was lying. If he spoke the truth, Thorin will probably end up killing him trying to find him Azog again." Fili's tone was filled with so much resent towards Thorin, due to his recent actions and words, that it was horrifying. Fili had gone from someone who thought the world of his uncle, never questioning him, to someone who didn't so much as trust him. He viewed his uncle in a new light and the company feared for their friendship.

It was around the time when Oin had risen from the concrete floor that Bilbo walked over. The hobbit hadn't said much to either Fili nor Thorin since they had first returned with Kili's body so Fili was a little surprised to see him approach. Bilbo sat beside Fili carefully before he smiled weakly. "Are you alright?"

Fili sighed to calm his unsteady nerves before he spoke. "Yes and yourself?" He replied. Fili spoke with a voice of forced calm and he was having slight trouble keeping the anger swelling inside him suppressed. He didn't know why but he felt he shouldn't voice his overwhelming concerns about his uncle to the hobbit. Maybe he just didn't want to tarnish the mental image Bilbo had of his leader more than necessary. He would have appreciated this if it were Bilbo in his position.

Ori and Bofur rose from the floor and went over to their brother's sides, not seeing any further reason to be with the blonde.

"I'm alright. Gandalf has something he wishes to speak with you about," Bilbo told him.

Scanning his eyes around the cave, Fili tried to catch a glimpse of the wizard's pointy hat. "Where is he?"

Bilbo hesitated. "Up by the trees... where you were stabbed..."

Fili nodded with the same amount of hesitation. "Thanks for informing me," he thanked though he didn't sound particularly grateful. Standing up from the ground, he swiftly exited the cave - not so much as glancing at Thorin as he passed him outside.

X-X-X

Thorin frowned sadly as he smoked from his pipe, the smoke dancing with the air in a clumsy scramble. "He's never going to forgive me for my mistake, is he?"

Dwalin, who was sharpening one of his axe's with a stone, furrowed his brows and didn't look up from his work. "Time will tell on the matter. Though the lad is as stubborn you, if not more so, when the matter with Kili is resolved he won't be staying angry for long."

Thorin noted the use of the word 'when.' Dwalin held no doubt that the matter would be resolved and the leader of the company greatly appreciated the confidence the dwarf held for him. Even after having to drag him outside until he calmed down, Dwalin still felt that Thorin's actions were reasonable. 'I would have smashed his skull in,' Dwalin had said as Thorin's anger had began to dwindle.

Despite Dwalin's confidence in him though, Thorin still regretted his actions. He didn't know what had come over him. Just the mention of the pale orc's name brought up rage from within him and he had recently been shamed by Azog. These, coupled with the fact Dae - who had caused so much pain to his family - worked for Azog, just sent his emotions into overdrive and he had flipped.

Suddenly, Fili breezed past Thorin and they didn't so much as exchange eye contact as he passed. Dwalin barely noticed the blonde's presence; he was there and gone so quickly. After Fili rounded the corner to head to the forest, Thorin mumbled regretfully. "I wouldn't forgive Fili if he did this to my brother... Mahal allow his soul rest in peace with Dis'"

Dwalin finally glanced up from his axe and stared at Thorin dead in the eye. Thorin stared blankly back. "What good will it do to worry about scenarios which won't happen? You aren't Fili, Thorin, nor is he you."

Balin, who was coming out for his watch (which Nori and Bombur had been doing) listened intently as he sat heavily in the seat positioned next to where Thorin stood and Dwalin sat in his chair (also for the watch.) Dwalin continued. "If you want to make things up to Fili, help Kili. The more you do for him, the more Fili will appreciate you for it."

Thorin kicked a stone with the side of his boot and watched as it bounced up the path before stopping. "I have already tried to help Kili but what can I do? Dae-"

"Look for a cure outside," Balin stated simply.

Thorin blinked. "What?"

Balin added to his previous statement. "Look for a cure outside, when on your watch, and then Dae will know nothing of what you're doing."

Thorin bit his lip, considering the option.

Dwalin laughed coldly. "If the fool has any sense he will stop hurting Kili soon and if we break his rules again, hurt him more. The threatening method keeps us under control and also gives us a way to offer Kili protection. We just have to make sure Dae doesn't notice us breaking the rules."

Thorin smiled slightly as he nodded. "I could see something like this working."

X-X-X

Fili found Gandalf just outside the grove of trees, leaning on his white staff. His grey hat stood out easily from amidst the background of orangey trees and Gandalf quickly realised Fili's blonde hair and beard fluttering in the wind. "Time keeping is not a strong suit of yours, is it, Fili?" The grey wizard called as Fili stopped in front of him.

"Blame the burglar for that one," Fili said. "I have only just been told you wanted me a moment ago."

The wizard nodded before he said, "Hobbits are quick and nimble on their feet when they choose to be but doesn't mean they always choose that option. Don't you agree?"

"Anyway, enough of this talk on Hobbits. I have a matter I must discuss with you."

Fili straightened and allowed his hands so fall to his sides. "Regarding Kili?"

Gandalf nodded curtly, "Indeed." Gandalf carefully lowered himself down on to the ground and gestured for Fili to do the same besides him. The blonde heir of Erebor did as ordered and glanced at the wizard intently.

Gandalf breathed slowly, taking in a dose of the crisp air which was slowly becoming orange. "I have a suggestion which I'm pretty sure about, concerning what Dae may be."

Fili raised his brows. "And?" Fili urged.

The wizard stared into the horizon and paused for a moment. "I feel that Dae is a warg."

Fili widened his eyes. "A warg?" He mumbled, flabbergasted. He would be lying if he said he had expected that response. "Why?"

Gandalf's face was grim as he proceeded to speak. "When I originally sensed the dark spirit inside Kili's body I knew that it was definitely linked somehow to orcs. Originally, I believed an orc had somehow managed to possess him but I couldn't think how.

"Then, when Dae said he served Azog, that further supported my theory of him being an orc. However, I quickly realised he couldn't be so. Orcs only speak the black tongue," Gandalf explained to the young dwarf.

"So do Wargs, don't they? They too have a different language of speech from us," Fili questioned.

"Wargs are created by mixing two animals together. In some cases, these can be human animals which understand the common tongue. Wargs are also very intelligent so it is easy for them to pick up on different languages - easier for them than goblins and orcs. I should imagine this is how Dae managed learned common tongue."

Fili glanced at the floor, piecing things together in his mind according to Gandalf's theory. "What about how he managed to possess Kili?"

Gandalf's back straightened a bit. "This is where I have some... unknown details. I feel Dae came from the bite marks in Kili's leg but how he actually pulled if off alludes me."

Fili nodded, his mood perked up a little after hearing the rather plausible explanation for what Dae was. "I played a guessing game with Dae before we captured him about who he was. He said no to being a goblin and he said Kili had killed him. The only remaining options were for Dae to be either a warg or an orcs. Fili pushed himself up from the ground. "Thank you so much for telling me your theory, Gandalf. I agree with you whole heartedly."


End file.
